


A Book and Magic Can Solve (Most) of Your Problems

by Tavriel



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Magic, Curses, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fae & Fairies, Libraries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:00:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 77,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24015592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tavriel/pseuds/Tavriel
Summary: Moon moves to a new region and gets involved in supernatural shenanigans.
Relationships: Gladio | Gladion/Moon
Comments: 11
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

Moon stares up at the building and takes a deep breath. She can feel her heart thudding and takes several more deep breaths. She knows she should be going into the building. It's her first day of work and she shouldn't make a bad first impression by being late. But she's arrived fifteen minutes early so she could have a little freak out about starting her first job. What if her coworkers aren't very nice? She's heard horror stories about unpleasant coworkers. What if she can't pick up on the job right away and her coworkers think that she's an idiot? 

Calm down, Moon orders herself. You're working as a library aide, not as a brain surgeon. The chances of messing up are significantly lower here. And if you do mess up, what's the worse than can happen? And statistically speaking, at least one of your coworkers will be friendly. Well, maybe not statistically speaking because Moon doesn't actually understand statistics, but she likes to think that she has moments of common sense, and common sense dictates that at least one of her coworkers will be pleasant.

With that pep talk in mind, Moon marches into the building while her confidence is high. There isn't anything on the first floor of the library except for the Creation Station whatever that is, but when Moon peeks in all she can see is what looks like robotic equipment and video games. There's only one boy in the room, but he's engrossed in some sort of equipment and Moon doesn't want to bother him. She decides to go to the second floor, which is where she remembers the circulation desk was when she came in for her interview. Someone there should be able to help her. With each step, Moon's mouth goes dryer and dryer. She tries to reason with herself. What does she expect to happen? The most that will happen is that they'll probably just have her fill out any paperwork she might have missed at orientation, give her a schedule, and then train her. It's like the first day of school. Nothing exciting really happens on the first day of school.

Moon arrives on the second floor and glances around. She hadn't had much of a chance to look around while she was here for her interview. The squeals of children reach her ears as Moon steps off the elevator. She can see children running around and parents following behind them at a more sedate pace. On the other side of the room is a play area with a rug and several toys. A circular desk is in the middle of the floor. A sign proclaims it to be the circulation desk. Three people are manning the desk. Moon walks over. As she does, she has the ridiculous thought that she should have dressed up more. She thought the black and white polka dot shirt with the black skirt looked nice, but maybe she should have worn something nicer, like a blouse. Maybe she should have worn the white blouse and gray pencil skirt she wears for job interviews, but that always made her feel like a little kid dressing up in her mom's clothes. And as she glances at the people behind the desk, she sees that they're in pretty casual clothes, so maybe she didn't need to dress as a stereotypical fancy librarian. Come to think of it, she's never actually seen librarians in pencil skirts and blouses unless it was on TV. 

A girl with green hair and a gray shirt looks up at Moon as she approaches. “Hi. Can I help you?” she asks.

“I'm starting work today,” Moon answers.

The girl beams. “Welcome aboard! My name's Mallow. It's great to meet you. Look, my shift at the circulation desk is going to finish in another ten minutes and then I'll look you up. In the meantime, you can go into the staff room. Ask for Kukui-he's in charge and will set you up. We won't have you doing anything too stressful today. Probably just have you shelve some books-you know the Dewey Decimal system-right?” At Moon's nod she claps her hands. “Great! So like I said, just head on into the staff room and I'll meet up with you in a few.”

Moon nods again and moves in the direction Mallow indicated. A sign on the door proclaims staff only. Moon pushes it open. There's a childish part of her that gets a thrill from going into the room. She thinks it might the part that always found staff rooms and teacher lounges to be the forbidden fruit. But she's old enough to know that there won't be anything exciting behind the door. She's right. It's a reasonably big room, with computers and several shelves. The carpet is a dull gray. A fridge and a microwave is shoved into a corner. Moon sees a few people on the computers and a few people eating at a table. She wonders who she should interrupt. She doesn't want to interrupt someone in the middle of their lunch, but she doesn't know if the people on the computer are doing anything important. Should she wait for Mallow? Stop it, Moon tells herself. You're a big girl. She approaches a person on a computer. “Excuse me?” she asks. “Do you know where Kukui is? I'm supposed to start work here today.”

The guy nods. “Sure, he's in his office. I'll take you back.” Moon follows him. He raps on the door and Kukui is springing from a chair and bounding towards her. “Good to see you, cousin!” He exclaims. “Welcome to the Hau'oli City branch of the Alola Libraries.” 

“Does each city have a branch?” Moon asks, and Kukui nods. 

“Oh, yeah. Each branch does things a little differently. I know I put your paperwork here somewhere. I just need to-” he waves his hand and the papers come zooming into them.  
He brandishes Moon's paperwork above his head triumphantly as though it's something really valuable and not just an employee file. Moon wonders why he didn't just put the files in a cabinet or something and then wonders how long she'll have to work here before she's allowed to point of the obvious. Moon reads over the paperwork and signs on the indicated spaces. Her fingerprints are taken so she can clock in and out on the machine, but today she'll just sign a slip of paper.

“Back in the old days we used to take blood,” Moon's former escort tells her. His name is Illima. “Fingerprint scans are much more sanitary, though.” Moon can't figure out if he's joking. She's heard of blood magic before, but taking blood as a means to clock into work seems a little bit extreme. Whatever happened to just signing a piece of paper?

“We'll start your training tomorrow,” Kukui promises. “With new recruits we usually have them shadow people until they get the hang of things, but everything is pretty simple and you'll be able to pick it up relatively quickly. We'll have you do shelving for a bit and go down to book drop. You won't be able to access the database as yet, but you can sit with someone scanning in the new materials so you get an idea. Sound good?”

Moon nods. She can handle shelving books. She's not sure what databases she'll have to learn about and her stomach twists. Calm down, she orders herself. You can learn how to do this. 

Illima grins at Moon. “This library isn't as exciting as other branches, but we have our moments. Kukui blew a hole in the wall one time and Mallow grew a tree from a table.”

Moon gapes at Illima and then turns to Kukui. Kukui rolls his eyes. “He's exaggerating. It was It was only a small hole and it happened on a completely sanctioned assignment. I was testing the wards and I poured too much power into my spell. It did teach us that we needed to reinforce the wards, though.” 

She should say something back. That's the proper thing to do. “I wanted shoot myself so I could test the theory that amaranth really does stop bullets.” Crap, that probably isn't the best response. Moon needs to backtrack, but before she can think of any answer, Kukui is nodding thoughtfully. “Amaranth, huh?”

Illima glares at Kukui. “Don't you even think about shooting yourself,” he orders Kukui. He turns to Moon. “The last thing he needs is more ideas on how to be reckless.” Moon flushes and she looks down. She shouldn't have said anything. Now she's in trouble. She's an idiot. She wants to leave, but this is a job and she can't just walk away. She hopes that maybe the subject will change and she can make an escape. Her prayers are answered when Mallow walks up.

“Hey, Moon!” she greets. “Got your paperwork taken care of? Ready to go shelf?” Moon nods. Kukui stops them before they can move off. “What stations are you on today, Mallow?” he asks. 

“I'm on the book drop in about two hours, then return desk and packing.”

“You mind if Moon shadows you for today?” Kukui asks.

“Not at all. Come on, Moon.” She stops by a section of shelves near the staff door. “This is where we put the books for this branch when they're returned. We have a section of shelves for other branches, but I'll show you that later.We each have a shelf we're responsible for shelving, but you can always take it upon yourself to shelve a few books if you've got some downtime.” She grabs a cart and and begins loading books onto it. 

Mallow keeps up a steady stream of chatter as she walks. “So have you ever worked in a library before? We usually use the staff elevators to get around. You can only access the eighth floor through the staff elevator. I recommend using the bathrooms on the eighth floor since that floor's unavailable to the public and people tend to have sex or smear feces on the walls in the public bathrooms.” 

Moon starts and stares at Mallow. She can't be serious. But Mallow's face shows no signs of humor and Moon feels a slightly sick sensation at the thought of going into a bathroom and encountering someone smearing feces on the wall. “I've never worked in a library before,” she tells Mallow. “Well, I mean, I shelved books for volunteer work, but I was only allowed to shelve one shelf. And I did help out in the kids' area, but other than that, not really.”

“It's easy enough to pick up. You probably already guessed it from the play area, but the second floor is the juvenile section. It's where we keep the easy readers, the board books, middle grade fiction, and children's DVDS. Third floor is for young adult fiction, general fiction, large print books, foreign language books, DVDS, and CDS. Fourth floor is nonfiction. Fifth floor is reference. Sixth floor is-I don't actually know. Oh wait, it's where the archives and magical items are, but you need special permission to go in there. Librarians are usually the ones that go there. We're mostly concerned with the second through fourth floors, so don't concern yourself too much with the other floors. I'm going to shelf on the fourth floor right now.”

They step off the elevator. The fourth floor is much quieter than the second floor. People sit quietly at tables or on armchairs leafing through books or scrolling through their phones. Moon immediately finds herself lowering her voice as she asks, “Did you really make a tree grow from a table?” 

“Yup! Want me to do it later? We can't do it here because we've got charms to prevent magic that isn't strictly for library use after a few incidents, but you can come over to my house for dinner and I could do it there.” Moon thought meeting someone and going over to their house for dinner was just something that happens in fiction, like bullies demanding lunch money and a group of students having absurd control over the entire school when none of their parents were influential. She thinks it over. She would like to see Mallow make a tree grow from a table but she just met Mallow. Is it really safe for her to go to someone's house when she just met them? Visions of being drugged and waking up in a basement flash across Moon's mind. Then again, she doesn't really know anyone here and she's being offered an opportunity. Mallow has been nothing but nice to her. Moon realizes that she's hesitated a moment too long when Mallow says, “If you have plans, that's okay. I understand that you might not want to hang out with someone you just met.” 

Moon had planned to go home and see if she had any orders for potions. She's gotten a few orders and she hopes that she'll get more once she's been in town longer. Still, she's pretty grateful to have orders for potions and remedies at all. Moon's shift starts in the afternoon tomorrow so if she wakes up early enough she'll have time to prepare and deliver the potions. And she really wants to see someone grow a tree from a table, so she nods. “No, I'm in,” she answers, and Mallow smiles. Moon feels her heart thudding. What has she done? She's only just met Mallow and she's agreed to come over to her house. What are they supposed to talk about? Moon casts her mind for interesting topics to talk about, but she can't think of anything. She's not very interesting. Her brother is the more interesting one. And when she does try to be interesting, she says stupid stuff like telling people she wanted to shoot herself to test out the properties of a plant.

There isn't much for Mallow to teach Moon since she's shelved books before, but Moon appreciates the company. Moon finds herself scanning the books as she shelves them and makes a mental reminder to get a library card soon. She sees a book about legends and beasts of Alola and puts it to the side. Maybe she can read it during her lunch time. But she really should socialize with her coworkers instead of burying her nose in a book. Then again, she doesn't think she's made the best first impression. Mallow notices the books. “You like supernatural creatures?” she asks.

Moon shakes her head. “My brother does. His job basically requires him to deal with supernatural creatures and stuff like that on a daily basis. Of course he always tries to bring one home. He ran away to a cemetery one time because he wanted a black dog. I had to run away with him. We didn't find a black dog, which is probably for the best because if you see a black dog you die in a year. Of course sources vary on that last part, but it is supposed to be an omen of death. Then again, other sources say it's supposed to guide travelers and protect them from evil. I wanted to see if the saliva could be used for something. I did get a mandrake out of the incident and some graveyard dirt, so the trip wasn't a complete bust.”

Moon just realizes that she's admitted to taking graveyard dirt. That probably isn't something she should have brought up. She wants to backtrack, to babble so that Mallow would forget about her taking graveyard dirt. That's weird, right? This is strike two. She's already on strike one because of the amaranth thing. She has to salvage this. 

Moon clears her throat. “Did you know mandrakes can be used to bring prosperity and prevent misfortune? It also screams when you pull it up and the cries could kill you. I knew about that because I read books about it. I saw Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Not sure if it helps with people being petrified for real. Did you know I didn't know petrified was a real word for a long time? I just assumed Rowling made it up. I wanted a basilisk when I was younger. I tried to hatch one. They're hatched by a serpent from a cock's egg and I don't know if that meant the serpent and the cock had to fornicate. We had a fair bit of snakes back in Kanto and our neighbors did have roosters, but I really couldn't bring myself to steal it. And it would have been ridiculous to tell my neighbor I stole his rooster so it could fornicate with a cock. I'm pretty sure stealing animals is illegal and I think making them fornicate to produce monster is That probably falls under animal abuse.” 

Moon's mouth is dry from the rambling. She stops and swallows. What has she done? She's made everything worse. She wonders if there's a way for her to sink into the floor or if she'd be better just running off. Neither is very practical, so Moon is left hoping that there will be a distraction and Mallow will forget about her. Why couldn't she just talk about something normal? She could have talked about her favorite supernatural creature or her favorite book. They were in a library. But instead she had to babble about trying to get a snake to mate with a cock. 

Mallow is looking at her with some amusement and Moon wonders if it's the kind of amusement where Mallow is laughing with her or the kind of amusement where Mallow is laughing at her. “You seem to have an exciting life,” she says, and Moon shakes her head. 

“Those incidences were outliers. I'm usually pretty boring.” 

“How'd you get the mandrake up? Did you plug your ears? Why would you think there would be mandrakes in a graveyard?”

Moon feels herself relaxing. Mallow doesn't think that she's weird. She feels lighter already. “I did have to plug my ears. I'm not sure if the cries can actually kill you, but I have no desire to find out. I didn't go out looking for mandrakes. It was just a happy coincidence. But I did hear that mandrakes grow under the gallows of murderers. And I was like, How am I supposed to find a mandrake then? It's not like the grave or the gallows is marked, Here lies a murderer. And pulling up a mandrake also means you're damning yourself to hell, which is a pretty idiotic reason to go to hell. I mean, in comparison to murder and torture, pulling up a plant is pretty tame. Like can you imagine going to hell and a demon asks you what you're in for and you're like, I pulled up a plant.”

“It could be a G-rated form of hell,” Mallows suggests and Moon snickers. She notices a book on the native Alolan plants and grabs it. She's been experimenting with the plants growing around her house, but it won't hurt for her to know more about the Alolan plants.

Mallow asks Moon general questions while they work, such as where she was from, if she has any family besides her brother, is she going to school? Moon relaxes. These are normal questions. She can give normal answers. Moon says that she's from Kanto, both parents are dead, and she's graduated with a useless degree and a bunch of debt. Mallow winces in sympathy. “Let me guess. They gave you the whole we need someone with experience thing when you tried to find a job, right?” 

Moon sighs. “Yeah, pretty much. I wasn't getting a job in my chosen field for a year and I couldn't just live off my savings and my brother's charity. I also had a little side job selling remedies, but I don't know enough to turn it into a full-fledged job and I felt pretty bad telling people they couldn't get a cure because they didn't have any money. So I decided to just apply wherever was hiring. It was either that or become a drug lord except I don't know where to get drugs. I do know what plants have hallucinogenic properties so maybe that could have worked out.”

“But then you'd be looking over your shoulder for the cops all the time,” Mallow points out and Moon has to concede the point. 

“Do you think that you'll try and get a job in your chosen field later?” Mallow asks and Moon shakes her head. 

“Not really. I basically only chose that as my major and field because I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I realized I didn't like the work I was doing.”

Mallow nods. “Do you think you'll go back to school for something else?”

Moon shrugs. “Not with my student loans now. Although if I do go back to school, I'll definitely look into internships and things like that so I can network and have experience. I kind of dropped the ball on that. Right now I just want to focus on working and saving up.”

Mallow begins to head back to the elevator, wheeling the cart. “We'll just use this to grab the books,” she says. “There shouldn't be too many books right now. We check the bin every two hours. Days after holidays are the worst. The bin is overflowing on those days.” They take the elevator down to the basement. “I always thought that your career choice would be like being knighted,” Mallow says. “You know, it would appear like a great destiny or something without you having to figure out just what you wanted to do with your life. But now I think career choices are just necessities. People don't always have the luxury to have a career they love. Still, this job isn't bad, so I'm pretty lucky.” 

Mallow is right about the book drop. There really isn't anything much in it. But Moon watches as Mallow collects the items and then returns to the second floor. She shows Moon what to click on to access the system and shows her how to scan a book in as returned. Moon feels herself relaxing. That doesn't look so hard. The return desk makes her a bit more nervous because she'll be answering phones, although Mallow tells her all she really has to do is transfer the calls to the reference department. Moon doesn't really see the point of having a desk just to return items, but she supposes people at the circulation desk are busy doing other things and it might be easier to have a desk just for returns. 

The rest of the day passes by pleasantly and Moon feels stupid for worrying so much. Logically she knows that she was worrying over nothing, but that never stopped her. She wishes emotions could respond to logic. Moon watches as Mallow dumps books into several bins. She tells Moon that patrons can check out and return books at any branch of the library and the staff will make sure it gets to the correct library. The bins are all labeled with with the names of the different branches. Mallow stands over a box and firmly announces the name of the library on the bin. The books vanish. Moon has used a similar technique when her brother needs supplies. It works out well because a person doesn't need to use magic-the bins are enchanted. If the system works the way Moon thinks it does, the items will be shipped to the library on the bins instantaneously. She isn't sure how the librarians are notified. Sun has a seal on him that sends a jolt whenever Moon sends something to him. He uses a charm to make the bin light so that he can carry it easily. 

Kukui strolls over. “Hey, Moon. How was your first day on the job?” 

“Fine. Mallow showed me around.” 

“Great. So like I said, we'll start training you tomorrow. You feel like you've started to get an idea of how things work?” Moon nods. She already knows how to use the Dewey Decimal system to shelf books. She figures collecting books from a bin isn't overly complicated. She doesn't understand the system of packing Mallow was using, but that was about it.” Kukui doesn't say anything for a moment and Moon takes the opportunity to say something that's been bothering her for a little while. 

“I'm sorry,” she says.

Kukui furrows his brow. “What on earth are you sorry for?” he asks. Moon hesitates. Maybe she was over reacting. But she plows ahead. “I'm sorry for encouraging you to be more reckless and about mentioning shooting myself. I'm not suicidal or anything, but I read in a book that amaranth can stop bullets and I like to experiment and see just how accurate some of the folklore is and-” 

Kukui laughs. “Don't worry about that, cousin! Science is all about taking risks. Some people just don't get that. You didn't encourage me to do anything reckless.”

“But Illima said-”

Kukui waves a hand. “He was just joking. Everyone here is used to me being reckless. They've made their peace with it.” He places a hand on Moon's shoulder seriously. “I mean it.” 

Moon decides to believe him. An idea strikes her and she says slowly, “You know, we don't have to shoot ourselves. I mean, that's a pretty big risk and it'd be really hard to explain to the doctors.What if we got a few practice dummies? Or maybe we could get BB guns. I don't think the type of bullet was specified. Or maybe we could try and do other experiments and save the shooting experiments for something else.” 

Is she being too forward? Maybe she shouldn't have asked Kukui to do experiments with her. But he looks delighted. “I'd love to!” he exclaims. “The best ideas come from collaboration.” Moon decides to believe that she hasn't completely messed things up. And it would be nice to do experiments again. There's only one problem and Moon sighs thinking about it. She decides to put it out of her mind for now. 

She waves goodbye to Kukui as she and Mallow step into the elevators. They join the stream of patrons leaving the library for the night as a voice announces that the library is closing. 

“So where do you live?” Mallow asks.

“ On the outskirts of Iki town,” Moon answers.

“So not too far away then. I live in Konikoni city. I usually just use ley lines to commute. Do you drive to get to work?” 

“I can't drive,” Moon answers. “I walked today, but I think I'll get a bike.” Mallow leads Moon to the ley line and Moon grips a hand. There's a sensation like Moon is on an elevator that suddenly plummeted downwards and she closes her eyes and clenches her fists. When she opens her eyes, she finds herself standing on a sidewalk. Brightly colored stalls line the sidewalk. Moon can see jewelry and clothes displayed on the tables and cranes her neck to take a closer look. Mallow notices her watching. “Lots of people come here to sell magical items,” she tells Moon. 

Moon wonders if she can sell potions here and resolves to inquire about it. She wants to take a closer look at the items for sale, but her stomach gurgles. Moon just hopes that it isn't loud enough for Mallow to hear. 

“We'll have to come shopping here soon,” Mallow tells Moon cheerfully. “A few people give me great bargains. I'll just tell them you're my friend and they'll hook you up, too.” Moon feels a warm glow at Mallow calling her a friend. It suddenly occurs to her that she has no idea why Mallow decided to make a tree grow from a table. She can understand Kukui's logic but why would Mallow decide it would be a good idea to grow a tree from the table? When she asks Mallow this she just laughs and says she thought it sounded like fun and she wanted to see if she could do it. Moon can't really argue with that logic.

When Mallow leads Moon to the picnic table outside, Moon feels a thrill of anticipation, like when she's at a movie she's been looking forward to for months. “Do you mind if I record this?” she asks, and Mallow shakes her head. “No, go ahead,” she assures her. Moon takes out her phone and hits the record button. Mallow spreads her hands over the table. For a moment nothing happens, then a scent of leaves fills the air. A tiny sprout begins poking up from the picnic table and then it's like Moon is watching a video on fast forward. The sprout suddenly grows into a sapling and then it's suddenly a thick tree with leaves rustling overhead. Moon's jaw drops. “That's amazing!” she exclaims. “Was the picnic table made out of oak? Can you grow plants from nothing or would you need a seed? What are you going to do with the tree? Can you make it disappear? What happened with the tree at the library?” 

“The picnic table is made out of oak. I can't grow plants out of nothing. I would need a seed or a leaf or some part of the plant. I'll do a reversal spell tomorrow.” 

“Thanks so much for doing this for me. And thanks for taking me under your wing.” The words aren't adequate enough, but they're all Moon has. She'll have to do something nice for Mallow to show her appreciation, but she can't think of what to do. 

But Mallow just waves her thanks away. “Don't worry about it!” she exclaims. “I know it's scary being the new girl. It's something you never really grow out of, right?” Moon laughs and nods. Mallow suggests that they eat outside and Moon agrees. It's a nice night out. Mallow heats up leftovers, apologizing as she does so. Moon rolls her eyes. “I was planning on eating instant ramen for dinner, so you're not getting any judgment from me.”

“Instant ramen is nice,” Mallow says. “I know people rag on it, but I think it's actually pretty nice. Still, my family makes a pretty mean ramen. We'll have to go over to their restaurant for lunch. We could make a day of it! Shopping, then lunch! What do you say?” It sounds so nice. Going out shopping with friends and then going to lunch-it sounds like something normal people do. Moon thinks about how lucky she is that Mallow has taken her under her wing. Her worries about her coworkers being horrible people were slightly unfounded. Moon warns herself not to get too excited. She hasn't met all her coworkers as yet. But Mallow and Kukui are nice so Moon will count that as a win.

Over dinner, Mallow tells Moon that her parents own a restaurant. Moon wonders if it's rude to ask how come Mallow is working at a library instead of a restaurant. She tells herself not to ask. It's none of her business and there's probably a mundane explanation. Not all children follow in their parents' footsteps. Mallow walks Moon to the ley line. “Thanks so much for having me,” Moon says. “And thanks again for your help today.”

“I told you not to worry about it!” Mallow waves her thanks off. “You be safe getting home, and I'll see you tomorrow, okay?” Moon nods and steps onto the ley line. When she opens her eyes again, she's in Iki town. Menacing silhouettes leap out at her and Moon quickens her pace. It's amazing how sinister everything looks at night. In the morning she knows she'll feel like an idiot for being scared, but right now she speeds up. She can't shake the feeling that she's being watched and she wishes that she'd thought to bring protection charms with her. Sun would scold her for forgetting them. But his line of work is a lot more dangerous than hers. Moon hadn't really expected anything to happen to her. She knows that's a ridiculous line of thought and resolves to wear protection charms from now on. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Moon arrives home. She grabs the mail as she heads inside. The cottage is silent and dark and Moon feels a pang of loneliness. She's okay with being alone most of the time, since she's always had Sun. But Sun is away on a mission and Moon doesn't know when she'll see him again. Moon flips on lights and heads to her bedroom. She notices writing on her mirror and her first thought is that a killer has broken into her house and left a message and she's scrambling for a weapon before she remembers that Sun had warded the place against intruders before he left. On closer inspection, Moon recognizes her brother's handwriting and reads the message. “Hey, Moon. How was your first day of work? Did the books have charms on them so that they tried to bite you? Did they scream because you were in the forbidden section and you weren't allowed to look at them? Did you read a book that melted your eyeballs? Things are going okay here for me. I'm hoping to be back home soon. Listen, do you think you can send over a few potions? The village I'm at is really small and they don't really have any decent medical care. Basic health potions should work. I promise I'll pay you back.” 

Moon looks at the mirror and says, “Message received.” The words vanish. Moon begins dictating her response. Sun has a phone, but supernatural interference renders it useless a lot of times, so they use mirrors or two way journals to communicate. “Work was fine, Sun.” She thinks about bringing up what happened with Illima and Kukui, but what would be the point? Kukui had said Illima was joking and he's probably right. It's Moon's fault for not understanding that and overreacting. The incident is over. Besides, Moon is too old to complain to her brother about misunderstandings like that. 

“No, the books didn't try to bite me. They didn't scream or melt my eyeballs. I'm working in a public library. Why would they have books so dangerous available to the public? I can send over a few potions, but do you want to tell me where you're at and I can come over on my day off or off hours? Love you.”

Moon flops on her bed and rifles through her mail. She sees she has a few requests for potions. Most of them are to cure headaches or help with sleep or stop bad dreams. Moon doesn't feet tired. She feels a little bit keyed up. Night time is an excellent time to conduct experiments or do work, so Moon gathers her tools and heads into the kitchen to begin her work. She checks the plants growing on the windowsill and makes a note of what she needs. Moon wonders if she can ask Mallow to grow plants for her. But Mallow has been so nice already and Moon doesn't want to ask for any additional favors. 

She has plenty of lavender. Lavender can be used to cure headaches and promote a restful sleep. It can also be used to deter evil. Actually, a lot of the plants can be used to deter evil. Moon decides to sell the oil of those plants as a deterrent against evil. Or maybe she should find a way to make jewelry with the plants. But she hasn't seen any cold hard proof that these plants work against evil and Moon thinks it would be unethical for her to pretend it does when she doesn't know for sure. It looks like she'll have to do an experiment. How is she supposed to conduct the experiment? 

Moon begins the preparations for the potions as she thinks over the experiments. . Moon's body falls into a rhythm. Doing potions work like this is peaceful, like taking a nap on a hammock on a sunny day. She probably won't get a lot of sleep tonight, but she has a special energy tea blend. She'll be fine for work in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the information about bird care has been exaggerated. Please do not sprinkle birds with salt and magical powders.

Chapter 2

Moon has underestimated how late she was going to stay up. She's been up almost the entire night brewing potions and only manages to get a few hours of sleep. She wakes up and her first instinct is to go back to bed, but she has deliveries to do. Moon doesn't bother with telling herself she'll get out of bed in five more minutes-she knows that she'll keep finding an excuse to extend the five minutes. So she rolls out of bed and checks her mirror for messages. Sun hasn't replied, but Moon sends over the potions. She trusts that if it's anything serious, Sun will contact her for help.

Yawning, Moon shuffles into the kitchen and sets the kettle to boil. She reaches for a packet containing energy boosting herbs. It should see her through the day, but she'll probably still take a nap when she gets home. When her tea is ready, Moon sips it slowly, savoring the warmth as it hits her stomach. She thinks the second days of work and school are the weirdest of them all. She's gotten used to being nervous on the first day of work and school. But she's always had that mindset that she just needs to get through that one day and she won't have to go to work or school again.

As Moon sips her tea, she goes over the list of potions that were requested. Most of them are pretty standard- potions for colds, sore throats, sleep, but there are a surprising amount of requests for potions to help with nightmares. Moon frowns at that and makes a note to ask the clients about it. She understands having multiple requests for potions for colds and sore throats, especially during flu seasons, but would there really be a huge amount of people having nightmares? More than one person has complained about nightmares. That can't be a coincidence, can it? Moon isn't sure if large groups of people frequently have nightmares at the same time. Maybe it's a magical illness, although she's never encountered anything like this before. Still, it's worth investigating later. Glancing at the clock, Moon sees that she has enough time to make a few deliveries. She grabs her bag and heads out the door to deliver her potions.

Alola weather is weird, Moon thinks. She can smell the salt on the air and her thoughts drift to sea weed and their medicinal uses. She isn't exactly sure what seaweed is good for medically, but she figures she might as well find out. She remembers suddenly that she needs to get a library card and resolves to do that today. But would she be allowed to apply for a library card when she's on the clock? Probably not, she decides. Moon pays special attention to the plant life as she walks. It's important for her to know what she has available. 

The first two deliveries are pretty standard. Moon delivers the potions with instructions on how often the customer should take it and the recommended dosage. When Moon knocks on the door of the third house, she's greeted by a man with brown skin and gray hair. His entire body sags as he leans against the door. “Are you okay?” Moon asks. 

The man peers at her in confusion. “Can I help you?” he asks. Moon rummages in her bag although that's just an excuse so she won't have to make eye contact. She pulls out a piece of paper, but there's really no need. “Your name is Hala, right?” When the old man nods, Moon says, “I have your delivery here.” Hala doesn't say anything for a moment and Moon wonders if she should prompt him. It could be that he didn't hear her or he didn't remember that he'd put in a request for a potion. After a moment, his face clears. 

“Oh, yes. The energy potion, wasn't it?” 

Moon nods and hands him the potion. 

Hala studies her for a moment and Moon has the brief fear that he can read her mind. She's never met anyone who could read minds, but there are all sorts of forces out there and it wouldn't surprise her to know that there are people who could read minds. Are there books with spells for that? Moon thinks about trying to find them. There's a book for everything. She's found a book on the history of toilets. 

“You're called Moon, aren't you?” Hala says, and Moon nods. She wants to ask how Hala knows her name, but she doesn't want to be rude. She thinks for a minute that he might have heard her name because of her little potions business, but Moon isn't arrogant enough to think she's famous enough for random people to know her name. There's a mundane explanation here that will make her laugh sheepishly at how obvious it is.

“You're new to our island, righ-” Again Moon nods. Her confusion must show on her face because Hala laughs. Moon immediately feels more at ease. “Wondering how I know your name? This is a small town. You'll get to know everyone sooner or later. And as the Kahuna, I make it my business to know about the people in my town. I'm sorry I haven't been by to welcome you. A Kahuna's duties are never done.” 

Moon waves away the apology. It's not like she expected a welcoming committee when she moved. She figured small towns where everyone knew everyone and people stopped by to welcome newcomers to the neighborhood was something that just happens on television.

“Would you like to come in and have something to eat?” Hala invites her. Moon isn't actually hungry, but she doesn't want to decline an invitation. She has to get to know her neighbors after all.

“I can stay for a few minutes,” she says. “If it's not too much trouble. But then I have to finish up delivering potions.” 

Hala nods and steps aside so Moon can enter the house. His house is spacious, with mahogany furniture and white throw rugs. Runes for protection are carved into the walls. Moon examines the runes. She doesn't recognize it. Hala notices her looking. “Where did you say you were from, again?” he asks. 

“Kanto,” Moon replies, still examining the runes. It makes sense that the runes would be different here, Moon thinks. She wonders if Sun has seen them and figures he probably has. “How are the protection runes in Kanto?” Hala asks. 

Moon shrugs. “We've got our general protection against evil runes, and maybe runes against certain types of monsters. Of course with the monsters we try to not live in areas where they roam around loosely or stock up on weapons if it can't be helped.”

Hala nods. They discuss the differences in Kanto and Alola runes before Hala asks, “How are you enjoying Alola?” 

“It's nice,” Moon replies. She wonders if she should say more, but she hasn't really been anywhere on Alola as yet. Still, she thinks giving a one word answer might be rude so she struggles to think of something to say. After a moment she says, “I got a job working as a library assistant.”

“How do you like it?”

“It's okay.” Moon wants to face palm at her answer. She hurries to add, “I just started there yesterday. But everyone seems nice.” 

Hala steps out of the room for a moment and Moon takes the opportunity to look around. She's drawn to the photographs on the wall. They're of a boy with dark brown skin and hair. The photos show him in various stages of life- as a little kid with bruised knees, a gangly teenager, and as a young man. In every photo he has a wide grin on his face. Moon turns as she hears a noise. Hala reenters the room carrying a plate of cookies. He notices her looking at the photographs. “My grandson, Hau,” he says, and offers Moon a cookie. Moon nibbles on the cookie as she continues to look at the photographs.

“He looks nice,” she says. 

Hala nods. “He's always been a people person. He would have been welcoming you to town and inviting you to parties, but he's away on business.” A frown crosses Hala's face. “He usually calls once a week to catch up if he can manage it, but he hasn't called as yet.”

Moon remains silent. There are words swirling around in her brain-words like, “he's probably in an area with poor reception, or he might have been caught up in something,” but those words don't mean anything. Moon can tell herself these things until she's blue in the face, but when she's awake at night and Sun hasn't contacted her, her mind jumps to all sorts of worse case scenarios. The words might be true, but they don't always comfort. Besides, Moon is pretty sure that Hala has told himself the same things. Hala clears his throat. “I'm sure Hau is fine. I know he can take care of himself but old habits die hard.” 

Moon nods. “I worry about my brother all the time,” she tells Hala. “I know he can take care of himself as well, but I keep thinking something will happen to him. Most of the time I was at his side when he was having adventures. Now that he's not with me I keep thinking about all the horrible things that could happen.”

Hala smiles sadly. “I raised Hau. I don't think I'll ever stop worrying him, even though he's an adult.” Moon doesn't say anything, but she feels a sense of empathy for Hala. She hasn't played a parental role in Sun's life, but he's been her constant companion and she really can't imagine life without him. Moon breaks out of her reverie to hear Hala say, “Hau has ways to contact me if he's in trouble but-” Moon doesn't need him to complete the thought. She knows that things can happen. 

In the end Moon settles for saying, “I hope Hau is okay and contacts you soon.” 

When she gets home she's disappointed to see that Sun hasn't contacted her. He'll contact me soon enough, Moon tells herself. In truth Sun has gone longer without contact than this, but the talk with Hala has made her a tad anxious. Moon tells herself that Sun is fine and can take care of himself. She goes to take a shower before work.

Moon arrives at work thirty minutes before her shift is supposed to start. Her heart begins to thud. This is ridiculous, Moon thinks. I've already had my first day of work. I don't need to be nervous. She's heard of first day jitters, but Moon feels like more emphasis should be put on second day jitters. It's weird, because first day jitters is basically “I'm in a new environment and nervous” and second day jitters feels like disaster is just waiting around the corner to ambush someone. No, that doesn't quite make sense. Second day jitters is the fear that things might not have gone wrong yesterday, but there are so many more things that can go wrong today. Moon shakes her head. She shouldn't immediately assume that things will go wrong. And if they do go wrong, she can handle it. Moon thinks that to herself until she almost believes it.

Moon decides that she isn't going to get anywhere standing outside and giving herself pep talks, so she steps into the library. She hasn't really had too much of a chance to explore. It would be nice to see what kinds of books the library offers. But as Moon heads towards the elevator, she sees the Creation Station and veers towards it instead. From her position outside the door, it looks empty. Moon steps inside and sees a floating head. 

Her body is already reacting before her brain. Her heart begins to thud and her mouth goes dry. Moon swallows and tries to muster up enough breath to scream. She wants to run, but her feet are rooted to the ground. There's a head floating in front of her. How is there are head floating in front of her? But then the head scowls. Moon registers movement and then the head is miraculously attached to a body. 

“That didn't work,” the head mutters. Moon sees that the head belongs to a short boy with orange hair and a scowl. Her heart rate hasn't returned to normal, but she's able to speak again. Now that she sees his body is attached to a head he looks vaguely familiar.“What didn't work?” she asks. She realizes she's missed a perfect opportunity to make a Wizard of Oz joke if she could think of one.

The boy looks at her and his scowl deepens. Moon is about to backtrack and tell him he doesn't have to answer her and then leave when he sighs. “The invisibility cloak,” he huffs. He gestures to a scrap of material on the ground. Moon steps closer to examine it. Now that she knows that the library isn't plagued with floating heads, she can't help but be intrigued by magical experimentation. “Can I look at the cloak?” she asks, and the boy nods. 

It's not really a cloak-more like a large piece of cloth. Moon picks it up and folds it over her hands. She starts when her hands disappear. “It seems to work,” she says.

The boy scowls. “Not fully. Here, watch.” He takes the cloth back from Moon and wraps it around himself. This time Moon is prepared and she doesn't start when his body disappears. “You see?” he says, and Moon nods. “What about if you wrapped the cloth over your head?” After she says it, Moon realizes how stupid she sounds. Wrapping the cloak around his head was a pretty obvious suggestion, and maybe Moon has insulted him by suggesting that. But the boy doesn't seem insulted.

“I've tried that.” He sighs and pulls the cloth over his head. Now his entire body save for his feet are covered. The boy whips the cloak off. “So the cloak has to be touching or covering your body?” Moon asks. 

“Seems that way.” 

Moon thinks for a moment. “What if the cloak falls off? Wouldn't it be easier to enchant a hoodie or a ring?” 

The boy shakes his head. “I already tried the ring,” he says. “Come here.” He gestures at a table. Moon can see several bits of cloth and rings on it. The boy picks up a plain ring and hands it to Moon. “Here, try this,” he orders. Moon eyes the ring. “What's it do?” she asks. 

“It's a failed attempt at an invisibility ring,” he tells her. Moon thinks that maybe trying on strange rings isn't the smartest move, but then she remembers that she's spent her time in graveyards hunting supernatural creatures, so this is pretty tame. She slides the ring on. Instantly her finger goes numb. When Moon looks at her finger, she sees that it's vanished. 

Moon begins to talk out loud. “So when you enchant an object, you're only able to enchant it so the object is making whatever it touching it invisible?” Moon thinks her question came out garbled, but the boy understands. His shoulders hunch and he looks at the floor. “I'm not a particularly powerful magic user,” he mutters. 

Should she tell him she can't do magic at all? Moon wonders. Would that reassure him? Instead she blurts out, “What about a magical extender?” 

The boy looks at her with his head tilted. “What?” he asks. Moon's mind is suddenly rife with possibilities and she finds she can't stay still. She begins to pace. “Well, you know how we have wi-fi extenders, right?” Moon barely registers the boy's nod before she's talking again. “What if there was a way to extend magical power? There has to be a way. I mean, there are stories where the source of a haunting or a curse or something can be tied to one object, but it affects an entire area. I've read a story about a ghost or spirit or something that couldn't move on to the next life because a part of his body was cut off and buried so people had to find and burn it. Or what if you used enhancers? You know like naturally magical items like how four leaf clovers are supposed to help you see through faerie glamour? Or you know how if there's a dead rat in the walls, it stinks up the entire house no matter where it actually is?”

She's babbling. She's babbling and she probably sounds like an idiot. Moon flushes and looks away. “Sorry,” she mutters, but the boy shakes his head. A tiny smile is playing on his face. 

“No, don't be sorry. It was interesting to listen to.” The boy flushes. “I'm sorry, I've been rude. I haven't even introduced myself or asked if you needed help. I'm Sophocles.” 

Moon smiles. “I'm Moon. I started here yesterday and was just looking around. Is this some sort of magical lab?”

Sophocles shakes his head. “No, we basically have people come down to use the 3D printer or robotics kit. And use the video game system, but most people use the one on the third floor. The place is basically for teenagers ages thirteen through nineteen. I do my experiments when I have a few moments to myself.” 

Moon frowns and wonders if she should leave him to his own devices. She says as much, but Sophocles shakes his head. “No, please stay. It's nice talking to people about my experiments. Brainstorming can really help, you know?” Moon nods and tries to think of more useful things to say.

“You know, I think I read about some plants that are supposed to help with invisibility. Have you considered reading folklore about invisibility cloaks and rings to get inspiration?”

Sophocles smiles ruefully. “No, I kind of just jumped the gun. I got excited, you know?” Moon nods. She can understand that. “You seem to have done pretty well,” she offers, but Sophocles rolls his eyes. 

“I've had a few failures. The first invisibility cloak turned invisible instead and I had a hard time undoing that. And then the charms didn't last long, so I had to use a renewing charm as well.” 

“That's pretty smart.” Moon almost starts babbling about plants and combinations when an idea strikes her. She's made potions to help against nightmares using lavender, but she's just remembered that rosemary can be used to stop nightmares. Why didn't she use rosemary? Maybe she can combine rosemary and lavender in a potion? Or make a little charm bag? Moon rummages in her bag for her notebook and writes her idea down. She hopes she isn't being rude.

She turns to Sophocles. “Do you make magical inventions a lot?” she asks. 

He nods. “All the time. I'm going to school for it.” Moon starts and looks at him. Sophocles is short and chubby with orange hair. He doesn't look old enough to go to school at all. Sophocles notices her expression and grins. “I'm older than I look,” he explains. That makes sense, but Moon still feels a rush of embarrassment that her thoughts show so easily across her face. She glances at the clock and figures that she should probably be getting upstairs to clock in. “I have to go,” she tells Sophocles. “But tell me more about your magical inventions sometime, please?” Sophocles smiles and nods and Moon dashes off.

Her mind is full of possibilities. She goes through all the magical uses for plants as she hurries up the stairs. Has Sophocles thought about enchanting objects or clothes for protection? Maybe he's tried to make seven league boots. Exactly how far away is a league? And what would happen if the charm for the boots wore off and a person was stranded? And what if a person lost control of the boots and just kept traveling a bunch of leagues?Moon shakes her head and reminds herself to write down these concerns. She steps onto the second floor and glances around. She sees a few children with their parents, but the place is pretty empty. 

“Moon!” Moon looks around at the sound of her name and sees Illima waving at her. He's smiling and walking forward, so Moon assumes that he isn't holding a grudge about the stupid thing she said yesterday. Or maybe he didn't think it was a big deal. Moon feels a weight lift off her shoulders and grins broadly. “Hi,” she says. 

“So you're back,” Illima says cheerfully. “How do you like it here so far?” Moon thinks that it's weird to ask people how they like a place where only a day has gone by. It's really rare that a place will leave a huge impression on the first day. Even when she was in school, she only thought that her teachers were nice enough on the first day. A book she'd read said it best-teacher's true personalities don't come out until a few weeks into the school year. But Moon figures Illima is just trying to make her feel welcome, so she smiles. “I met Sophocles,” she tells him. “He seems nice.”

Illima's eyes warm. “He's a good kid. He's actually invented a few items that we use here.” 

Moon is intrigued. “What kind of items?” she asks. Illima glances at the clock and heads into the staff room. “You might be able to see a few of them right now,” he says. “It's about time to do unpacking.” Moon looks around to see Mallow and Kukui surrounded by boxes and two carts. They look up as Illima calls out. “Moon here was hoping for a demonstration of Sophocles's glasses and gloves. I'm on the fourth floor if you need me.” 

Kukui beams. “Excellent! You're just in time. Mallow, would you go and get the glasses and gloves, please?” Mallow nods and moves off. Moon peers into the boxes. Various books are crammed into them. “So what's unpacking?” Moon asks, and then wants to facepalm at her stupid question. Obviously unpacking means that they're unpacking something. Moon's guess is that they're unpacking the books in the boxes. 

Mallow returns a few minutes later carrying brown gloves and glasses and hands them to Moon. “Try them on,” she says. Moon obeys and slips on the glasses. A minute later she jumps back. It's like she's suddenly been surrounded by a multicolored net. Strands of green and gold surround the walls. She whips the glasses off and stares at Mallow and Kukui. 

“What is all this?” Moon asks. “Is it to see magic?” That makes sense. She's read a book where the main characters used glasses and contact lens to see demons.

Kukui nods. “Yes. Some of us can see magic , but a few staff members can't. So Sophocles had the idea to enchant the gloves and glasses.” Moon peers at the the books in the boxes. It's an entire mess of colors-red, gold-purple-orange-that makes her wince and close her eyes. “Are these all spells on the books? How can you tell which is which?” 

“The spells are color coded,” Kukui explains. “It can be a bit difficult to keep straight, though. We've got charms to prevent wear and tear, water damage, mold, people writing in the books. I'll tell you what colors to keep your eyes out for-blue, red, white. If you see books with those, just place them over here.” He indicates a cart. Moon nods. At first looking at all the different colors is like looking at the sun. Moon squints and covers her eyes. How do people do this? “Is this what it's like for people who can see magic?” 

Mallow laughs. “You get used to it after a while. Think about it as not noticing a bad smell or getting so into something you tune out the world.”

“What are the gloves for?”

“Some of the books have curses on them.” 

Moon takes a deep breath. She thinks of the times she has to make potions or salves when she's worried, nervous, angry, or upset. She does what she does then. She takes a deep breath and focuses. She pushes asides all thoughts about what the different colors mean or what spells they are. She sees the correct colors and takes the books. 

Slowly she begins to relax. It's not so different from when she's preparing potions. There's a task-sorting books, grinding herbs, and Moon has to do it. Of course Moon's mind can't wander like it does during potions prep. Even then, Moon has to make sure that she doesn't add a wrong ingredient or prepare it incorrectly. There are a few potions she could prepare with her eyes closed. Of course she wouldn't actually prepare things with her eyes closed. Moon suddenly realizes she's placed a book in the wrong cart and winces. So much for her mind not wandering.

Mallow speaks. “So, will it interfere with your groove if I talk?” 

Moon thinks it over. On one hand, this is her first time sorting books and she doesn't want to make a mistake. On the other hand, Mallow has been nothing but nice to her and she doesn't want to be rude. 

“Seriously, though, if you're a person who can't work and talk, it's cool. I'm the type of person who just likes to have a bit of noise when I do something. It gets lonely when it's too quiet.”

“It depends on what I'm doing,” Moon replies. “If I was studying for a certain subject, I couldn't have any distractions because I sucked at that subject. But if I was making dinner or washing dishes, then I liked to have music playing.”

“Makes sense.” 

Moon doesn't say anything more, so she figures Mallow takes that as a cue that she doesn't want to talk. It's not that she doesn't want to, but she can't think of anything to say. Then again, Mallow did ask if it was okay if she talked. She didn't say that Moon had to talk. But what if Mallow thought she was rude if she didn't respond back? But Mallow did say she understood if Moon was the type of person who couldn't work and talk, but that was different from having no idea what to say in general.

“You can talk,” Moon says after a minute. “I don't mind.” 

“Are you sure? I honestly don't mind if you don't want to talk.” 

“No, it's fine.”

“Okay, then. You'll get the hang of unpacking and sorting soon enough. Keeping track of all the spells is kind of difficult and we don't want to overwhelm people, so we have them start out small and only sort certain books.”

Moon examines a book. “What other spells would there be on a book?”

“Oh, you'd be surprised. Some libraries have books with dark spells on them. There are books with spells to make your eyes bleed, books that can bite you, books that can force you to speak in rhyme for the rest of your life, books that can summon monsters, books that can suck you into the pages and I mean that literally-” 

Mallow pauses for breath. Moon looks at the books and wonders which ones can summon monsters and which ones will cause her eyes to bleed. Of course a book causing your eyes to bleed seems kind of counterproductive because books are supposed to be read. But what if the books have things in them that would drive someone insane? Mallow notices Moon looking at the books and smiles. “Don't worry. The gloves should protect you from any curses. Most of the curses we encounter here are pretty tame. It's unlikely that you'll find a book to make your eyes bleed. After we sort the cursed books from the non-cursed books, we have a librarian remove the curses.”

“What if you can't remove the curses?” Moon asks. 

“We put those aside for specialists to look at. Most of the time they're able to remove the curse. Would you like to watch someone remove the curse from a book?” Moon nods eagerly and remembers what Sun had asked about cursed books. It looked like she would have a story to tell him tonight. Moon suddenly remembers a memory of Sun and smirks a little bit. “You know Sun put an alarm charm on his diary as a kid?” she asks Mallow. “Whenever I touched it, it would start screaming.”

Mallow giggles. “Your brother kept a diary?”

“Yeah, he didn't want me snooping in it, which was ridiculous because he was always snooping in mine. And I couldn't put any charms on mine.” Moon pauses. Has she just admitted that she can't do magic? Saying that she couldn't put any charms on hers doesn't necessarily mean that she can't do magic, does it? Not everyone can do all spells. But hadn't she asked about people seeing magic when she tried on the glasses? And Kukui had mentioned that some staff members couldn't do magic, so it probably wasn't a big deal. Moon feels her shoulders relaxing.

Then she realizes she's just stopped talking and was probably staring into space. She thinks Mallow might be too polite to say something about how creepy Moon looks just staring into space. She clears her throat and tries to continue the story. “So anyway, Sun kept reading my diary which was a gigantic pain. And I guess I was too lazy to hide it. Actually, I'm not sure why I never hid my diary. It seems like an obvious yet cliché thing to do.”

Mallow shrugs. “You'd be surprised at how often people don't do the obvious sensible solution.” Moon has to admit Mallow has a point. She wonders out loud of there's a word for that and then continues with her story. “So anyway, Sun was snooping in my diary. So I started writing in cursive because he can't read cursive and still can't.”

Mallow laughs and Moon laughs with her. They fall into an easy conversation after that, although Moon has to double check that she's sorting the books correctly. She sighs as she sees she's placed a book in the wrong pile again. She thinks that someone else would have finished the job a lot faster. She glances around to see if anyone is staring at her and wondering why she's taking so long to sort the books, but everyone is engrossed in their own tasks. Moon rolls her eyes at herself. Of course no one is paying attention to her. They have jobs to do. And, Moon tries to assure herself, in a few weeks she'll be sorting the books as quickly as a veteran worker. 

When they finish sorting the books, Mallow leads Moon to a computer. She has the cart with the non cursed books and has taped a sign saying “curses to be removed,” on the other cart. “Okay, so after the books have been sorted into cursed, not cursed categories, we scan them into the system to see where they belong. We get books from all libraries here. You want to scan them in?” Moon nods and takes the scanner. She has a little bit of difficulty aiming the scanner at the barcode on the book, but soon enough she gets the hang of it. When she scans the book, a slip of paper will pop out of a machine, stating which library the book belongs to. Other times a slip of paper with a name will pop out. “That means the book is on hold for that patron,” Mallow tells her. “Put the book here and we'll put it on the holds shelf in a bit.”

Scanning the books in is relaxing and methodical. When the books are scanned in Mallow asks, “Do you want to shelve the books for a bit or do you want to go see a curse being removed?” 

“Curse being removed!” Moon exclaims and then claps a hand around her mouth in case she's being too loud. But no one notices and Mallow leads Moon to Kukui's office. “Hello, Moon and Mallow!” he exclaims. “How was sorting the books?”

“It went fine,” Moon answers. She tries to think of something else to say, but her mind has gone blank. She remembers how she'd babbled about amaranth and shooting herself yesterday and flushes in embarrassment. “Moon was hoping to see you remove a curse,” Mallow explains. Kukui claps his hands. “Not a problem at all. Come in!” Moon steps into the office while Mallow excuses herself for a moment since the office is kind of cramped and she's already seen curses removed. Kukui browses through the books and brandishes one triumphantly. “This one will work,” he exclaims. He shows the book to Moon. 

“What kind of curses does it have?” Moon asks. 

“Oh, a stinging hex,” Kukui explains. “Not very powerful, mind you. See how the color is faded.” Moon looks at the colors surrounding the books and sees that they are faint, like a shirt that faded in the wash. Moon doesn't ask how Kukui can tell what kind of hex it is. Instead she focuses on something else. “You said the hex isn't very powerful,” she says, and Kukui shakes his head. Moon removes the gloves and grips the book. Instantly she feels a sensation like she's just been stung by a bee, but a little worse. She drops the book. 

“Decided you wanted to see how a cursed book worked, right?” Kukui asks, calmly picking up the book. Moon nods, cradling her hand. She'll have a story to tell Sun now. She focuses on the pain. Her hand aches slightly when she moves it, but the pain is beginning to fade. “Are you okay?” Kukui asks and Moon nods. “I'm fine.” 

“Are you sure? I know one or two healing spells.” Moon shakes her head. She isn't really injured and she doesn't want to have Kukui waste his time for something as trivial as this. Kukui studies her for a moment and then asks if she's ready to see the curse removed. Moon nods. Kukui shapes signs in the air, explaining that a curse being broken can lead to magical backlash and it's best to be prepared. Moon carefully writes this down. Kukui makes another sign with his hand. There's a tiny flash of light and Kukui stumbles back. 

“There we go,” he says, and Moon blinks. That was it? All Kukui did was make a sign. She was expecting something with a little more flair. Well, there was a flash of light, Moon tells herself. She wonders if her disappointment is showing on her face because Kukui chuckles. “Not as dramatic as you expected, right?” 

Moon nods. “I suppose not.” The disappointment is fading. Curse removal isn't glamorous. It reminds her of Sophocles telling her about how his experiments failed. It reminds her of how she spends hours doing potions prep. It's not glamorous work and seeing that makes the divide between magic and nonmagic users seem less. “Are there different ways to remove curses?” Moon asks. “Does it depend on the strength of the curse? Does a curse always have backlash?”

“In theory there are different ways to remove curses, but most of us just use a reversal spell. This was a pretty simple job since there was only one hex on the book. It can be a little time consuming when there's more than one curse. As for your next questions, the weaker the curse, the easier it is to remove. Not all curses have backlashes.” Moon processes the information. The ache in her hand has stopped. “By the way, would it be possible for me to get a library card?” she asks.

“Sure!” Kukui exclaims. “And we also need to get you an ID so you can go through the employee entrances. We'll get that sorted out later. But here's the paperwork for a library card. You just need an ID and to write down your address. Pretty basic stuff.” Moon slips the application into her pocket and goes to shelve books.

As she shelves, she makes a mental note of where interesting books are. She keeps an eye out for books about plants and books about nightmares, but she sees a book about knowing how to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you and takes it from the shelf and skims through it. The time passes by quickly but peacefully. Moon is used to shelving books and her thoughts drift. Kukui's mention of a reversal spell had reminded her of the spell Mallow had done last night. She said she was going to do a reversal spell on the tree.

But there were such spells as banishing spells, Moon thinks. Would it be easier to use a banishing spell? Of course maybe if someone banished a spell or an object, they'd need to know where it was being banished to. And if the tree was grown with magic, did that mean there could be any effects when the tree was used for things? It's worth experimenting with, Moon thinks to herself.

Moon doesn't end up mentioning the idea to Mallow for the rest of the day. She's just met Mallow and she doesn't want to bother her and ask her to enchant plants so she can do an experiment. A flash of resentment flares up in Moon. If she had magic, she wouldn't need to rely on others to help her. She could enchant the plants herself. Moon shoves the resentment down. Resenting her situation won't help anything. Instead she tries to distract herself. She has her library card and has a few books about nightmares in her bag. She's looking forward to having a relaxing cup of tea and reading them.

Suddenly she yawns and stumbles. Illima catches her. “Are you alright? Are you coming down with anything?” Moon tries unsuccessfully to cover a yawn. “No, was just up late last night.” It occurs to her that she might have more orders for potions when she gets home and feels herself going limp at the thought. 

Illima's brow is creased in concern. “Are you sure? You don't look well. I didn't mention it earlier, but you have shadows under your eyes.” Moon winces. She clearly didn't take a good enough look in the mirror before work, then. Moon waves off Illima's concern. “I'm fine, really.” She is. It's just a bit of exhaustion. She's being a bit dramatic. It's nothing that a good night's sleep and a good meal can't cure. Illima still looks uncertain and when Moon tells him she's walking home his frown only deepens. He insists on taking her home and Moon protests half-hardheartedly. In the end, she allows Illima to convince her. She really didn't want to walk home by herself anyway.

It's lonely coming home to a dark and empty house. There are no sounds. Shadows leap out at her and Moon stumbles back. She fumbles for the light and sees the shadows are just furniture and boxes. Moon exhales. Of course. What did she think it was? She sways and stumbles into the kitchen. Maybe she should just go to bed, Moon thinks. She can wait until tomorrow to do whatever. She feels a prickle of shame that she's so exhausted just from staying up late. 

Since it's a nice night out, Moon decides to eat outside. The air is warm and there's a pleasant breeze. She can hear insects and it makes the place feel less lonely. Moon can feel her energy returning as she eats her sandwich. She'll read a bit and have an early night. Tomorrow she'll visit a few of the clients who requested potions for nightmares. Moon isn't exactly sure when she becomes aware of the noise. Her spine stiffens and she glances around as though expecting an attack, but no monsters come leaping out at her. 

Moon tells herself to take deep breaths. There could be a totally mundane explanation. Moon grips her plate in her hand and rises from her seat. She creeps to where she hears the noise, expecting to be attacked any minute. Moon raises the plate high above her head as the moonlight reveals the source of the noise. It's a bird. Moon exhales in relief. She's gotten worked up over a bird. Being all by herself in a new environment is making her paranoid. Moon hurries inside to get a flashlight so she can examine the bird. She tries to remember what she's read about injured birds. Let's see, she knows that she shouldn't interfere with baby birds, but she's pretty sure this bird is an adult. Or maybe it's a fledgling. She thinks she remembers something about how fledgings could be fine after a few hours. Hasn't she also read something about waiting for the bird parents to show up? Just how long has the bird been here? Moon is pretty sure that the bird wasn't here before she left for work. For all she knows the bird could have been here for hours. 

Moon shines the flashlight at the bird. It's shivering. Thankfully it doesn't look like its wings are broken, but Moon doesn't want to make any judgment calls. She needs a wildlife rehabilitation center, but all of them will be closed now. Is she supposed to just leave the bird here? She's read that she's supposed to leave injured wild life alone because she'll likely do more harm than good. She knows she's not supposed to give the bird food or water in case it chokes. Moon hurries to get her phone so she can see where the nearest wildlife rehabilitation center is and what the hours are. There should be advice on what to do for injured animals.

Sure enough, the advice says to leave the animals alone, but there is a checklist for when someone should intervene. She should intervene if the animal has apparent injuries, a dead parent, or was brought home by another animal. The bird has been shivering, Moon thinks. Does that mean she can intervene? What if she does and makes things worse? She hopes rehabilitation centers have ways to help animals who were unintentionally harmed by well-meaning but ignorant people. After about an hour of the bird seeming to not recover, Moon decides it probably won't do any harm to put the bird in a box. Moon has read that she's supposed to put an injured animal in a box lined with paper towels and keep it in a warm dark place. Moon is suddenly reminded of a book where a character was described as the type to rescue injured baby birds despite the fact that dying is the fate Mother Nature usually has for injured baby birds.

Luckily the bird isn't dead the next day. Moon finds a wild life rehabilitation center in Hau'oli City and after calling to see if she could bring the bird there heads over. It feels like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. A volunteer takes the bird and places it in a container so he can do an exam. Moon hovers for a moment. The volunteer examines the bird. Moon watches in interest as he performs several spells and wishes she had Sophocles's glasses. The volunteer turns to Moon and frowns. Moon's heart rate picks up. Has she done something wrong? She didn't feed the bird and she kept her interactions with it to a minimun.

“Where did you say you found the bird?” the volunteer asks.

“In my backyard,” Moon replies. “But I don't know how long it was there for.” 

“The bird's a male,” the volunteer tells her absently. “Did you examine the bird?” 

“No.” Then she wonders if she was supposed to have done so. “I mean, I looked to see if there were any obvious injuries but-” she trails off. She feels like she sounds like she's making excuses. “Is the bird seriously hurt?”

“No, the bird isn't badly injured, but...” The volunteer trails off. He looks at Moon. “Did you notice anything unusual about this bird?” Moon shakes her head. The volunteer frowns. “There's something unusual about this bird. Unusual like what? Moon thinks. The bird looks average to her. He has black feathers and bright eyes. “What's wrong?” Moon asks.

“I'm not sure,” the volunteer tells her. “My diagnostic spells are picking up something unusual about the bird. I'll need a little bit more time.” Moon hopes the bird will be okay. She isn't sure why the volunteer would be picking up something unusual about the bird. She thinks it might be an internal injury or something along those lines. Still, her mind keeps wandering to the bird throughout the day and she's relieved when the volunteer calls and asks for her to stop in.

The volunteer doesn't waste any time. He leads Moon over to the bird. The bird seems to be doing fine. He looks a bit more alert. “Did you find out what's wrong with the bird?” Moon asks.

The volunteer looks at Moon seriously. “That's the thing. “I don't believe this really is a bird.” Moon starts and looks at the bird. He looks like a regular bird. Moon peers at the bird closely as though there will suddenly be an indication that the bird isn't a bird. “What makes you say that?” 

“My diagnostic spells revealed traces of transformation spells on this bird.” Moon frowns. She's heard of stories about people being transformed into animals. “So you think this bird is someone who was transformed?” she asks.

“It seems likely.” The volunteer sighs. “We don't have the resources to help the bird. We can help birds who have been injured, but if this bird wasn't always a bird we can't help-we aren't curse breakers.” Moon wonders if it's her imagination or if the bird has a gleam of human emotion in his eye. “Other than the whole not being a bird thing, is he okay?” 

The volunteer nods. “He's fine, physically.” 

“So what's going to happen to the bird?”

The volunteer chews his lip. “Ordinarily we would release the bird into the wild, but since he's not a bird...” Moon nods. It makes sense that the volunteer would be reluctant to release the bird. The bird might not be able to find someone to transform him back into a human. In the end it's decided that bird should remain in the rehabilitation center for now. They may not have the resources to end animal transformation, but they do have the resources to take care of a bird. Moon looks at the bird, wondering if he retains human knowledge in this form. She asks the bird, “I don't suppose you're the kind of transformed animal that can talk? Or are you a bird that can learn to talk?”

Unfortunately, the bird does not speak. Moon wishes it could be that simple. She tries a different tactic. “Can you understand me?” The bird chirps but Moon isn't sure if this is just a coincidence. Moon turns to the volunteer. “If I think I find a way to undo the curse, would I be able to try it?” The volunteer nods. Moon leaves the rehabilitation center with her thoughts full of all the books she's read about birds. There are fairy tales in which a girl's brothers are transformed into ravens or swans. Moon remembers that in the story about the swans the girl had to sew shirts made out of nettles and do it all without saying a word. She isn't sure about the other story, but she'll look it up when she gets home

When she gets home she sees that Sun has written to her, thanking her for the potions. Moon groans. She'd completely forgotten to write Sun last night. She writes back. “Hey, Sun. No problem about the potions. Let me know how they work. How are things where you are? Do you think you'll be coming home soon? So I forgot to tell you that I touched a cursed book. It was a baby curse. It was just a stinging hex since I'm not dumb enough to mess with books that can summon demons. Although I did read a case where you had to read the summoning charm backward to banish them. I also found someone who was transformed into a bird.”

Moon spends the rest of the night alternating about reading up on bird folklore and ways to end curses, and preparing potions to prevent nightmares. She's decided to try a potion using rosemary since it prevents nightmares. She's also combined it with thyme since thyme can also be used to prevent nightmares. Moon writes that down in her journal and makes plans. She'll visit the clients who requested the potions to help against nightmares to see how they are doing. She really should have recorded how often the clients were having nightmares. Moon hopes that they'll remember.

*  
When Moon goes out to check up on the clients, she has her notebook with her and a supply of the new and hopefully improved potions. Her shift at work starts later today, so she has a bit more time to do her interviews. She knocks on the door of one of her clients.. “Hi,” Moon says. “I don't know if you remember me but-”

Her client, Audrey interrupts. “No, I remember you. You delivered the potion to help with nightmares.” Moon takes a look and her and what she sees isn't encouraging. Audrey's hair is tangled and she has dark circles under her eyes. “The potions aren't working very well, are they?” she asks. Even though she expects the answer, her heart sinks a bit as Audrey shakes her head. Moon smiles and tries to speak in a cheerful tone. “I'm sorry to hear that. I had an idea right after I gave you the potions about how to improve them, so I made new potions.”

Audrey frowns. “I don't have the money to pay you,” she tells Moon. Moon frowns herself. She'd completely forgotten to consider payment. She's never really set up any hard and fast prices with her clients. Moon waves a hand. “Don't worry about it. If you want to pay me back later, you can, but if you can't don't worry.” Moon considers saying that she's excited to see if the new potion works, but she doesn't want to come across as too eager. 

After a moment, Audrey accepts the potions from Moon. “Thank you,” she says softly. Moon hesitates for a moment. Then she tells herself she needs to have all the information if she's going to help her clients. She takes a deep breath. “Would you mind if I ask you a few questions about your nightmares?” she asks. Audrey nods and stands aside so Moon can come in. They take a seat on the sofa and Moon begins to ask her questions. She'd looked up causes of nightmares. “I'm sorry if these questions are invasive. If you don't want to answer you don't have to, but I think I can help. Are you experiencing any anxiety and stress, any trauma, lack of sleep, sickness, are you on any medications?”

Audrey shakes her head to all of Moon's questions and Moon writes it down. She pauses for a minute. “How's everything in town? Everything going okay? No attacks, fires, aliens coming down from the sky?” Again Audrey answers no. Moon writes that down as well. She'd considered that maybe there was a horrible event in the town and people were having nightmares because of it. Moon thanks Audrey for her help and leaves. She spends the next few hours interviewing the townspeople. So far all of them have basically said the same thing-everything is fine in the town and no one has suffered any traumatic events. 

As Moon heads back home to shower, she thinks over her next options. She'll give it a few days and then see if her potions had any effects. She stops by Hala's house, curious to see if Hau contacted to him and to see if he has any advice about the nightmares, but he isn't home. Moon reminds herself to stop by later.

Her mind turns to the bird. For all she knows the curse could have worn off and the bird would be human. Part of Moon hopes that the curse would have ended but another part hopes that it hasn't so she can be the one to save the day. Moon crushes that thought ruthlessly. But when she gets to the rehabilitation center, she sees that the bird is still a bird. 

“How's he doing?” Moon asks. 

“He's fine.” 

“Was there any change in the spells?” Moon asks. She wishes she could see magic and considers asking Sophocles if he could enchant a pair of glasses for her. But she doesn't know him well enough to ask. There isn't any change in the spells on the bird. “Have you had any ideas about how to end the curse?” the volunteer with Moon asks. It's an older woman this time. 

“No change in the spells.” 

Moon looks at the bird who is regarding her with bright eyes. “Hello,” she says to the bird. She wonders if it's okay that she's talking to the bird. The information she's read had stressed not to interact with wild animals more than necessary, but the bird isn't a wild animal. She'd read a book about children who died and had their souls transferred into birds or something along those lines. She remembers the main characters reading them stories so they could learn more words.

“Did you have an idea on how to help the bird?” the volunteer asks. 

“Salt,” Moon replies, and produces a canister of salt from her bag. “Salt usually works as a barrier against supernatural things and ends curses.” Moon pauses. “Wait, salt isn't poisonous to birds, is it?” 

The volunteer shakes her head. Moon sprinkles salt over the bird and holds her breath. Nothing happens. Moon turns to the volunteer. “Any change?” she asks, but the volunteer shakes her head. Moon sighs. She pulls out her notebook and writes, “Tried putting salt on bird. No change in spells.” Moon tries to think of other alternatives. Salt water can also be used to end curses, but those curses usually affected the person's hands, like King Midas. Still, Moon makes the suggestion. She isn't sure if she should collect water from the beach or if just adding salt to water would work. To be safe they'll try both methods.

Moon watches as the volunteer takes the bird outside. She can hear the cries of the other birds in the center. It's a comforting kind of noise. At the volunteer's nod, Moon pours the salt into the bird bath and stirs it. There aren't other birds in the bath, thankfully. Moon places the bird in the bath and waits. The bird begins splashing and wriggling and Moon has to bite back a smile. She's never realized birds could be so cute. But the bird isn't suddenly transforming into a human. Moon writes down that the bath didn't work and makes a note that maybe she needs to use salt water from the ocean. Or maybe she needs running water. She writes that down as well before turning to go.

When she gets to work, she decides to check in on Sophocles. She sees him in the Creation Station talking to a teenage girl. Not wanting to interrupt, Moon lingers outside for a few minutes. Sophocles finishes his conversation with the girl and catches her eye. He grins and beckons her inside. With a grin of her own, Moon steps inside. “How's the invisibility project going?” she asks.

Sophocles rolls his eyes. “Still at a standstill. And I've had a few projects for class to do, so I haven't had time to work on it.”

“Cool. Well, I just popped in to see how you were going.” That isn't the real reason, Moon scolds herself. Just ask him if he can enchant a pair of glasses for you. But you've only had one conversation with him and it might be too early to ask for favors. 

“I'm going fine,” Sophocles tells her. “What about you?” 

Moon's first instinct is to say that she's going fine and to make generic small talk, but she stops herself. 

“Actually, I had a bit of an eventful few days. I found a bird that's been cursed.” Moon realizes that the way she's phrased that might have been confusing. “I mean, the bird used to be a human but he's been transformed into a bird.” 

Sophocles's eyes widen. “Are you serious? Did you see the transformation?”

Moon shakes her head. “No, I found the bird in my backyard. Thought it was a regular bird but when I took it to the bird rehabilitation center they said they saw traces of a transformation charm on him.” 

Sophocles lets out a low whistle. “Wow. You don't usually see animal transformation cases. You'd have to be pretty powerful to transform someone into an animal.”

That's a good point, Moon thinks. It never occurred to her to wonder who could have cast the curse or how the bird was cursed in the first place. Well, she had remembered the stories about the ravens and the swans, but those were more about remembering how the curses had been broken and not how the protagonists could have been cursed in the first place. She never would have considered looking at who cursed the bird. Deciding to just bite the bullet she asks, “Do you want to eat lunch together? We could discuss the case.” It's pathetic and funny at the same time, Moon thinks. Here she is, shyly asking if she can hang out with someone like she's still in school and not a technical adult with a job and college degree. 

Sophocles smiles. It's tiny but sincere. “Sure.”

*  
Kukui calls Moon into his office and presents her with her own ID. Moon slips it around her neck. Before she leaves, she turns to Kukui. He might have ideas on what to do for the bird. He might be able to end the curse on the bird. Why didn't she think to ask? Quickly she tells Kukui about what happened and watches his reaction. It isn't good. Kukui isn't smiling and saying that of course he can end the curse. He's rubbing his chin in thought and frowning. “Animal transformation, huh? That would take powerful magic.”

“Sophocles said as much,” Moon says. “But could you counteract it?” 

Kukui considers the question. “I might be able to. I would need to see the bird, though.” Moon nods and tells him where the bird is. She thinks that she should call the bird something other than the bird and tries to think of a few symbolic bird names. She considers Huginn, Munin, and Quoth as she she goes to join the others. She sees she's on router three with Illima today and frowns at the unfamiliar word. She sees the words router two and router four on the schedule as well. Moon goes to find Illima. 

Router basically means that they print out a list of books in the library that they have to find. Illima and Moon go to the third floor. “So is this what happens when someone puts a book on hold?” Moon asks. “It shows up on this router thing so we can locate it?”

“That's right. If a patron places a hold on an item, it's entered onto the router for the next day. When the book is ready, we notify the patron. They can either be notified by phone or email. I'll show you how to place a hold request in the system afterwards.” Moon smiles and nods. Illima lets her take the lead. It's pretty simple. All she has to do is search for the books on the list. The only downside is that staring at all the letters can make her eyes watery.   
“Why don't you guys use a locator spell?” Moon asks. “The library isn't warded against those, right?” 

Illima chuckles. “No, it's not. But we had an incident where someone tried to summon all the books from the router at once.” Moon can picture what happens next and smiles. “And it any case,” Illima continues, “not using locator charms or summoning spells is just a matter of personal preference. We already know the location of the books for the router. Most of the time they're in the correct location, but other times they aren't.”

Moon scowls as she remembers searching the library website to see if a book was available, being told it was available, and then it not being where it was supposed to. She's heard the librarians at her college library tell people to put books on certain carts so they could shelve them correctly. “We only use the locator charms when the books aren't in the correct location,” Illima says. “And I personally like searching for these books the old fashioned way. It gives me time to explore the library and think.” Moon can't argue with that.

*  
Over lunch, Sophocles shares a few theories with Moon. “So you don't know who cast the curse?” he asks. Moon shakes her head. “I don't. Like I said before, I only found out because I was told. And I don't know if there's any slight changes in the curse when I tried breaking it because I can't see magic.” It's not so bad admitting that she can't do magic. Maybe it's because no one in the library has given the impression that they cared or maybe it's because Sophocles specifically made inventions to help people who didn't have magic.

“I can make you glasses so you can see magic,” Sophocles says absently. Moon opens her mouth to protest although she doesn't know why seeing as she did want him to make her glasses. She frowns as she realizes how entitled that sounds. “I'll pay you,” she promises, but Sophocles isn't paying attention. His eyes are bright. “You remember what you said about magical amplifiers and magical signals?” he asks.

“Sure.” 

“Well, what if we can use a magical blocking device?” Moon's eyes widen as she considers the implications of what Sophocles has said. “That could work!” she exclaims. “Do you have any idea how to make one?”

“I was thinking we could use iron or maybe steel. Those work well against faeries and that might negate any spells they performed. Of course I've got no proof that it is a faerie, but even if it isn't, iron and steel might have an effect.” 

“What about ways to find out who did it? Can you trace the spell like a magical CSI?” 

“I can't, but Kukui might be able to.” That's progress, then. If they can't find someone to break the curse or end it themselves, the next option would be to see if they can find the person who cast the curse and get them to reverse it. She writes that down as Sophocles watches. “Would death end the curse?” he asks. Moon starts at the question. Death is a morbid option. “The bird's death or the caster's death?” she asks. She doesn't want to think about death being a solution.

Sophocles chews on his lip. “If the caster is dead, then theoretically the spells they have in place should end with their death.” Theoretically isn't good. And death is a really extreme solution. “We'll put death as a last last resort,” Moon says. Her heart is hammering just at the suggestion. 

“Definitely. Did you think of any other ways to end the curse?”

“I want to try ocean water. And maybe running water. I guess I could cry over the bird as well. Tears seem to help break spells.”

“You could try kissing the bird or confessing your love,” Sophocles suggests. 

Moon can't help but laugh. “I don't think I've read any stories with birds being transformed back into human with a kiss or a love confession. Beasts and frogs, yes. Although I don't know if this means I'd have to throw the bird against the wall if we're going with the frog prince tale.”

“Maybe hold off on that. You should also try combining treatments. Maybe one of the methods will work if you combine it with another.” Ideas are sprouting to life in Moon's mind. She scribbles them down as fast as she can. “You're right!” she exclaims. “Thanks so much.” 

*  
Kukui accompanies Moon to the bird rehabilitation center when they have the day off. Moon can't decide whether she's nervous or excited. In her hand she clutches a pair of glasses Sophocles has enchanted for her. She'll have to find out a way to thank him. She could pay him, but she doesn't know how much she should offer and she doesn't want to insult him. Moon's heart hammers in anticipation as Kukui approaches the bird. They've decided to go outside so that there will be more room to work. She puts on the glasses and looks at the bird. With the glasses on, it looks like the bird is ensnared in a moving black net. Moon has her notebook with her as well as roomy iron cage that she's hoping to use as a magical blocker.

Moon observes the bird closely as Kukui approaches. He shapes the signs and Moon wonders if there will be backlash that will turn him into a bird. She really hopes not. Moon watches as Kukui makes several hand gestures. At first there's no change in the bird, but then the bird starts screeching and Kukui jerks back. Is it her imagination or does the magic net looking like it's pulling tightly over the bird?

She turns to Kukui to see if he notices as well. He's shivering. Moon's brow furrows and she places a hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”

Kukui nods shakily. “I'm okay. What about the bird?” Moon looks at the bird. He appears to have calmed down. “You okay?” she asks the bird. She isn't sure if the bird can understand her, but she thinks it doesn't hurt to try. “My friend was trying to remove the spell from you, but I guess that didn't go so well. What happened?” she directed the last part at Kukui.

“I tried to remove the curse all at once. Unfortunately it looks like the curse is set so if someone tries to remove it, it will injure the bird.” Moon clenches her fists. Someone has been transformed into an animal against their will and now the person who cast the curse has made it so attempts to remove it will injure the bird? That's cruel, Moon thinks. “What about tracking the caster?” Moon says. If they can find out who the caster is they can go over there and what? Moon thinks. She only has vague notions, but most of it involves violence. 

Kukui shakes his head at the question. “Unfortunately, I can't track the caster either.” Of course. It would be too easy. Moon rubs her head and tries to think. “So this bird was transformed. And we don't know who did it. And we can't remove the curse outright because it'll trip an anti curse removal charm.” 

“That about sums it up.” 

Moon sighs. Kukui claps her on the shoulder. “Cheer up. We may have hit a stumbling block, but that's a natural part of doing experiments.” Moon knows he's right. She knows that no experiment ever works out perfectly or yields the results she was expecting. But still it would be nice if things could be that easy. Moon writes down the discoveries about the curse being untraceable and so far unbreakable. There has to be other alternatives. They'll find them.

“So I guess it's back to the drawing board,” Moon says with forced cheerfulness. “Let's try the cage.” As they transfer the bird into the cage it occurs to Moon that it might be awkward if the curse ends while he's in the cage. But the bird doesn't transform into a human. Moon peers at the bird and then looks at Kukui. “Is it just me or is the magic surrounding it reacting funny?” she asks.

Kukui steps closer. “It looks like the magic is fading,” he agrees. “The bird doesn't appear to be in distress.” Moon's heart leaps and she begins to feel cautiously optimistic. “So iron might have an effect on the spell.

“Not a large effect, but an effect.”

“So do we just keep the bird in a cage until the curse wears off?” Moon asks. How long would the curse take to wear off? She remembers what Sophocles's said. “Sophocles said iron wards off faerie magic,” she said. “Do you think this means that a faerie cast the curse?”

“It's possible,” Kukui says. “It would explain the power in the curse. There aren't many human magic users who could have transformed someone.” Moon begins to pace. “So let's say that a faerie did cast the curse. Iron works against the faeries. Do you think that other methods to ward off faeries could work?” She's half paying attention to what Kukui is saying. In her mind she's running through plants she knows can ward off faeries. Let's see, there's St. John's Wort, rosemary, gorse and dill. Moon thinks she remembers reading about daisies as well, but those were to prevent children from being stolen away. She can combine the rosemary and dill together. She doesn't have any St. John's Wort, but maybe if she gets a few seeds Mallow would be willing to grow a flower for her.

*  
She's cautiously optimistic when she goes home to start working on her new idea. The optimism gives her energy. Moon hums as she grinds the herbs she'll need into a powder. She's going to experiment with salves and powders. She has a vague idea of making a powder out of the plants and sprinkling it over the bird. I still haven't thought of a name for the bird, Moon thinks. I suppose it doesn't matter. I'll be able to call him by his real name soon enough. I wonder if we should have gotten a beast speaker. Maybe they could have spoken to the bird and find out who did this to him. That'll be a next step if my idea doesn't work. Let's see, which combination of herbs will be the most powerful? 

In the end Moon makes several powders and salves. She's made a powder using rosemary, a powder using dill, a powder combining the two, powders using one of the plants and salt, and powders using both of the plants and salt. She's also made salves using the same combinations. Her idea is that the plants can draw out the curse, similar to when she uses the plants to draw out infections. It makes more sense in her head. Moon will never be able to explain it out loud. Moon can hardly wait to taste out the powders and salves. It's all she can do not to bounce as they go to the bird rehabilitation center. Kukui meets her there with a grin of his own. “Hey there, Moon. You look excited.”

“I am. Iron weakening the curse was a great break. Hopefully the salves and powders I made will help as well.” When they reach the bird, Moon puts on her glasses. She gasps in delight. “The magic is fading!” she exclaims. Kukui confirms this. Moon feels even more excited. She takes several deep breaths. It won't do to get overexcited. 

Moon's heart beats as she removes the bird from the cage and sprinkles the powder containing rosemary, dill, and salt on him. Nothing happens. Moon tries not to get discouraged. Maybe it will take a while for the powder to take effect. Or maybe there won't be an effect. She and Kukui settle down to wait. After about twenty minutes, Moon notices that the magic is fading a bit more. Moon writes that down along with the amount of powder she used.

“The bird seems to be improving,” Kukui remarks. 

“Yeah. How much longer do you think it will take? Do you think it'll be like when you have a regular illness and you have to take medicine for a few days before you get better?”

“It could be. The magic around the bird is lessening.” Moon studies the bird carefully. It's true that the magic surrounding the bird is lessening, but there aren't any changes in the bird. If the curse is fading, shouldn't the bird's appearance be changing? If there's not going to be a flash of light and a bang and a human standing in front of her, then shouldn't feathers be falling out or something? Moon has to admit that she isn't exactly sure of the specifics of removing an animal transformation curse. She takes comfort in the fact that the magic is fading.

*  
For the next few days, Moon administers the powder before she goes to work. Kukui has decided that she can handle things on her own, but she has his number The bird's condition improves more and more, but he still looks like a bird. Moon writes everything down in her notebook. When this is finished she'll be able to focus her attention on the nightmares. More people have requested potions to help with nightmares. The last few nights have consisted of coming home and staying up half the night brewing potions. She barely has time to speak with her clients and she knows that's terrible customer service. Her customers should drop her, Moon thinks. They're still having nightmares. Her potions aren't working. But-Moon is distracted by the bird screeching and flapping in the cage. 

Moon jumps up. The bird has never acted that way before. A bright, blinding light is surrounding the bird and Moon has enough time to think that she's getting her wish before the screeching becomes deafening and Moon opens the cage. The light grows bright and Moon feels like she's been hit in the head. She whips off the glasses and squints her eyes shut. When she opens her eyes she sees that a young man is panting in the dirt. For a moment she can only stare. She's just seen someone transform from an animal to a human in front of her. Then instinct kicks in. For all she knows, the man could be hurt. Moon steps forward and places a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” she asks. He glances up and Moon gasps in recognition as his eyes meet hers. “Hello, Hau,” she says softly.


	3. Chapter 3

Hau doesn't show any recognition at his name. For a moment Moon wonders if maybe she made a mistake and it isn't him. But even if the man isn't Hau, he still probably needs help. Moon keeps her voice soft. “Are you okay?” she asks. She knows it's a stupid question. She doubts that people would be okay after transforming from a bird into a man. Then again, frog princes and bear princes never showed any ill effects after their transformations. In those stories it was usually, “Oh, I'm a prince but I was turned into a bear or a frog or some other animal but your love saved me and now you can be my princess.” At least in those stories the transformed people were able to speak right away.

Still no answer. Moon racks her brain, trying to figure out what to do. Hau is still looking around. “Do you remember who you are?” Moon asks. “You're Hau, right? Do you remember Hala?” Moon hopes to see a glimmer of recognition in his eyes, but no luck. After a moment, Moon pulls out her phone and dials Kukui. He might have an idea of what to do. It occurs to her that she should call Hala and let him know that Hau has been found, but she doesn't know his contact information. She supposes that she can take Hau to Hala's house, but she doesn't know if she has time before work or if Hala would even be there. 

Kukui greets her cheerfully. “What's up, Moon? How's our little bird doing?” Moon glances at Hau. Aside from not responding to anything, he seems to be doing fine. “The curse broke,” she reports, and Kukui cheers. “I knew you could do it, Moon!”

“I didn't do anything,” Moon protests. “But listen, Kukui, I think we have a problem. The bird is Hau.”

Kukui interrupts her. “Hala's grandson?”

Moon starts in surprise. “You know him?”

“Of course. I grew up in Iki Town, didn't I mention? Hala helped me with my studies. He's one of the best I've ever seen when it comes to offensive spells. My shielding spells are top notch thanks to him.” His voice grows concerned. “How is Hau doing?” Again Moon looks over at Hau. “He looks physically fine, I guess. But he doesn't seem to respond to me. I don't think he recognizes his name.”

There's silence on the other end of the line before Kukui says, “I'll be there soon.” He hangs up and Moon turns to Hau. She doesn't know if he can understand her, but she starts babbling. “So I met your grandfather. I had to give him an energy potion. I just moved to town. Your grandfather says if you hadn't been busy, you would have introduced yourself. I guess this is a pretty weird way for us to meet, right? I haven't really been socializing since I got here. I got a job at the library and a side job delivering potions.” Moon still doesn't see any reaction in Hau's eyes, but as she says the word potions it occurs to her that she should make sure the curse is truly removed. She'd yanked off her glasses when Hau was transforming; now she puts them back on. 

Hau is still surrounded with a net of magic, but it's fading so much it looks practically invisible. She'd thought that since Hau transformed back into a man that the curse was fully removed, but it doesn't appear to be so. Moon hesitates for a moment. Would the rest of the curse disappear by itself, or should she remove it? She decides to remove it. She doesn't want to risk the curse strengthening or Hau having a relapse.

“I'm going to remove the rest of the curse,” she tells Hau. “I think there are still some fragments. Can you hold still for a bit?” Moon goes to sprinkle the powder on him, but Hau flinches back. Moon frowns. He never displayed that kind of behavior as a bird before. “It's okay,” she says, keeping her voice soft. “It's just a powder to help with the curse. Do you remember being turned into a bird?” Moon sprinkles a bit of powder on her hand and holds it out to Hau to inspect. She thinks that it's almost like she's feeding a bird birdseed and has to hold back an inappropriate laugh.

Hau sniffs at the powder. “It's just plants and a bit of salt,” Moon assures him. “It's harmless. Well, unless you're allergic, but you didn't show any ill effects as a bird, so I think you'll be fine.” Hau remains stiff but allows Moon to sprinkle the powder over him. There's a flash and when Moon looks at Hau again, she doesn't see any trace of the curse. She allows herself to feel a glimmer of hope. She notices that Hau's eyes look clearer. She decides to try and talk to him again.

“Hau?” she asks. “Do you remember your name?” Hau looks at her slowly. Moon waits. After a few moments, he nods shakily. Moon sighs in relief and smiles. “That's great! So you remember your name. Do you remember your grandfather?” Another shaky nod. Moon takes a deep breath. “Can you talk?” she asks. Hau opens his mouth. She can see his lips struggling to form words, but aside from a few grunts, nothing comes out of his mouth. Hau's eyes widen and he clutches at his throat. 

“Hey, hey, it's okay!” Moon hurries to reassure him. “I think it might just be a side effect of the curse and transforming back. Changing shape must be pretty awkward. I mean, you have an entirely different set of limbs and maybe instincts. I'm not really sure if you keep your mind when you transform into an animal. Did you?” Hau calms down a bit at her words. Moon continues to talk. “And Kukui is coming. Do you know Kukui?” Hau makes another noise and nods. Moon takes that as a good sign.

“Okay, so you know who you are and who your family and friends are and you can understand me, so I'm going to take this as a good sign. Like I said before, maybe it's just a matter of your mouth relearning how to make people shapes. You know how muscles get weak if you don't use them or you forget concepts you learn in school. It's probably just a matter of relearning it.” Hau leans towards her. His posture has relaxed a bit. They're interrupted by a voice calling out. “Hello? Moon? Hau?” 

Kukui strides up to them. Hau's eyes light up and he tries to smile. “Hey, Hau. Looks like you've had quite an adventure, huh?” Kukui claps Hau on the shoulder. Hau's mouth twitches. Kukui turns to Moon. “What happened today?” Quickly Moon tells Kukui about the curse breaking and how the curse seems to have ended. She also tells Kukui her theories about Hau relearning how to use his body. Kukui nods seriously and tells Moon that he'll take care of Hau. Moon feels a little guilty about abandoning Kukui and Hau, but she reminds herself that Kukui knows Hau and Hala and will make sure that he's okay. There really isn't anything Moon can do. Still, Moon is distracted when she goes to work and she keeps sorting the books wrong. 

“Is something the matter, Moon?” Mallow asks. 

Moon places a book on the correct cart. “I'm just a little distracted,” she replies.  
“Do you want to talk about it?” Mallows asks.

Moon thinks it over. She isn't sure if telling Mallow that Hau was turned into a bird would be an invasion of his privacy. Did she even tell Mallow about the bird? She can't remember. Would talking about it really help? Moon thinks. She can't do anything about the situation now. Kukui can handle it. 

“No, thank you,” Moon tells Mallow. 

Mallow shrugs. “Well, if you change your mind, let me know. But do you think you can focus for a bit?” Moon nods and takes a deep breath. Yet again she tells herself there's nothing she can do for Hau now, but she can do her job correctly. Moon puts all thoughts of Hau out of her mind and begins sorting the books. After a few moments she gets into the groove of things. 

Mallow nods approvingly. “So I was thinking we should have a girl's day,” she tells Moon. “We can go shopping and eat at my family's restaurant.” Moon considers it. A girl's day does sound like fun. She hasn't really seen the island since arriving here. But Moon still has to figure out why her clients are having nightmares. Then again, maybe when she goes out she'll have an idea or hear or see something that will make the frequent nightmares make sense. Then again, she doubts she'll be that lucky. On the other hand, a break might be what she needs to get inspiration. But she had been slacking on trying to figure out why so many people were having nightmares.

“A girl's day sounds like fun,” Moon says. “I'm just a little busy with a few of my clients.” Maybe if Moon tells Mallow about what's going on she'll have a few ideas. Or at the very least maybe talking about it will make her consider a solution she hasn't before. As long as she doesn't mention any names, it should be fine. Mallow gestures for Moon to continue. “A good bit of them are having nightmares,” Moon says. “I don't think it's common for so many people to have nightmares at once, is it?”

“I've never heard of it,” Mallow says. Moon examines the books to make sure she's placed them on the right cart. “Me neither, but for all I know there could be a disease that makes people have nightmares. But anyway, I was trying to figure out why so many people were having nightmares. I thought if I could find a common cause that would help, but so far I've got nothing.” 

“What did you ask them?” Mallow asks and Moon tells her. Mallow hums thoughtfully. “What about what they eat?” she asks. “Maybe they've ingested a hallucinogenic.” Moon thinks it over for a moment and decides that Mallow makes a good point. “Are you sure, though? Wouldn't there be more cases if that were the case?”

“There might be people having nightmares that you're unaware of,” Mallow points out and again Moon has to admit that Mallow has a point. “So it could be something that they're ingesting.” Moon wonders if Mallow suggested that because her family owns a restaurant. She wants to tease Mallow about that, but she doesn't want to come across as rude. 

“Have you considered the environment?” Mallow asks, as they move to the computers to scan the books in. “What do you mean?” Moon asks. She's finally gotten her log on information so she can scan books in now. 

“Well, you know how people are allergic to pollen? Maybe it's something like that.” Moon stills as she thinks over what Mallow has said. She's just been trying to treat the clients by giving them potions, but what if it's an external factor she needs to eliminate? Maybe it's not an illness or people responding to a traumatic event. Maybe it's a supernatural creature.

Don't get ahead of yourself, Moon thinks. But as she works, she continues to mull over the possibility of a supernatural creature. I'll see how the new potions are doing, Moon tells herself. And if they don't work, I'll make charms that can ward off evil. She never would have considered a supernatural explanation for the nightmares and she feels a little bit stupid. Moon tells herself that the important thing is that Mallow made the suggestion and now she has something else to research. But how long would it have taken Moon to consider the fact that it might have been a supernatural creature or a curse causing the nightmares? She could have wasted so much time.

Moon tries to comfort herself by telling herself that this is how science works sometimes. Sometimes people form the wrong conclusions or perform the wrong tests or make mistakes. A lot of the times it was about trial and error. It doesn't make her feel any better. Sitting here feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to accomplish anything, Moon reminds herself. At least now you have a new angle to work on thanks to Mallow. But right now you have library stuff to do. 

Throughout the day, Moon is distracted by thoughts of Hau and the nightmares. She finds herself shelving books and staring at the call numbers for a good few minutes without registering them. How is Hau doing? Would he be able to learn how to talk again? Maybe it isn't as bad as it seems and it's just shock from transforming back into a man. I wonder if he knows who cursed him. I wonder how long it will take for him to be able to talk? She hopes Kukui and Hala would be able to help him or find someone who could help him if they couldn't. She wonders how Hala is taking the news of what happened to Hau. 

Moon closes her eyes and tries to focus on the call numbers. When she volunteered as a student, she was assigned to shelves in areas that people barely used, so the most she had to do was a quick scan of the shelves to make sure everything is in order. After a while she'd basically memorized where all the books on the shelf was. You'll know where books are here soon enough, Moon says to herself. As her thoughts switch to the possibility of a supernatural creature causing nightmares, Moon thinks that it's a good thing she isn't doing anything that requires major concentration or something that could get people hurt if her concentration slips. If she shelves a book wrong it's no big deal, but if she were doing surgery or operating heavy machinery, her lapse in concentration could mean a disaster. Just act like you're preparing potions and you have to make sure you add just enough of a herb so the potion isn't poison.

She isn't sure how, but Moon makes it through the day. She'd kept an eye out for Kukui in case he came in to work late, but no luck. Mallow walks out with her. “So I think a nice cup of tea and a good night's sleep should help you focus,” she says.

“I thought the thing was to take a bubble bath with a glass of wine,” Moon answers. 

Mallow shrugs. “That could also work.” Mallow's advice is good, but before Moon drinks a nice hot cup of tea, she's going to do a bit of research on supernatural creatures that could cause nightmares. Or maybe it isn't a supernatural creature. Maybe it's a sorcerer. But why would a sorcerer want to cause nightmares? You don't know it is a sorcerer or a supernatural creature, Moon reminds herself. Let's not get ahead of yourself. But if there is a supernatural creature or sorcerer then that raises other questions such as how no one detected them. 

Mallow sighs. “Are you going to try and have an early night at least?” Moon considers saying that yes she is, but she knows it will be a lie. “I want to research a bit on supernatural causes of nightmares. You made a really good point earlier about the possibility of the cause of nightmares being supernatural. I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner.”

“I'm glad to have helped, but don't you think you'll think more clearly with a good night's sleep?”

“Or maybe I'll get so consumed with what supernatural creature or magic it could be that I won't be able to sleep until I've done some research.” Mallow falls silent and Moon figures that means she's conceding the point. She'd like to go to her clients and see how the improved potions are working. But it's night now and it would be rude to call on someone at night. But she can at least do some research so if her potions don't work out, she'll be have another theory to test out.

“Wouldn't it be better to see the people first?” Mallow points out. “Maybe you can have someone do a magical exam on them. And you have the glasses Sophocles made for you, so you should be able to see any magical influences yourself, right?” Moon stops as what Mallow says registers. She's right. She does have the glasses, so it's a possibility that she might be able to see supernatural influences and creatures. Of course she doesn't know enough about what curses and spells look like to be able to interpret them correctly, but she can find someone to help her. 

“You're right,” Moon tells Mallow. “I'll need to see the clients before I make any more plans.” Mallow smiles. “So you won't stay up late researching?”

“I'll try not to.” Mallow hugs Moon and leaves. Moon walks home by herself. I definitely need to get a bike or see Sophocles about seven league boots. Or maybe see if it's possible to do a variation of the slippers in The Wizard of Oz so I could teleport wherever I want instead of just home. A moment later she puts the idea aside. Sophocles is probably busy with schoolwork. I didn't get a chance to tell him about the bird, Moon thinks. I guess I can tell him tomorrow. I wonder if he's made any more progress with the invisibility cloak.

When Moon arrives home she eats a quick meal. She debates calling Kukui but she doesn't want to bother him. She figures that if something happened he would have called. But why would he? Moon thinks. Hau is a human again and Kukui and Hala are more than capable of taking care of him. But Moon can't help but wonder how Hau is doing, so she calls Kukui. She gets his voicemail and leaves a quick message asking how Hau is. Then her attention turns to the nightmares. 

Maybe Mallow is right and there is a supernatural cause to the nightmares. She pulls out her notebook and writes down the theory that the nightmares are caused by supernatural creature or a sorcerer or some sort of magic. Moon flips through her notes and sees again that the people affected by nightmares have nothing in common. There could be something else I'm missing, Moon thinks. At the very least, if the nightmares are being caused by an external force, she has plants that can deter evil. Although a ward would be more effective, Moon thinks. I guess I should check the wards on the houses. Although not all wards could keep out supernatural creatures. And wards could always fail.

Now that Moon has another theory to work with, she becomes more energetic. She goes through her supplies, seeing which ones can be used to deter evil. She isn't sure if there is a supernatural cause to the nightmares so she decides to use plants that are generally used to deter evil. Planting lavender was supposed to deter evil as well has hanging marigold garlands. Moon has a little bit of marigold, but she has more than enough lavender. For a moment she remembers sprinkling the powder over Hau and wonders if it would work on the people having nightmares.

Maybe I should do a bit of research on creatures that can cause nightmares, Moon thinks. That might be helpful. She pulls out her phone and types in creatures that can cause nightmares. 

She sees creatures such as mares, baku, and batibut listed. She clicks on batibut first and sees that it's a demon that comes into contact with humans when their tree is cut down and used in a person's house. With all the stories about offending supernatural creatures by accidentally destroying their homes, Moon thinks that it's a wonder people aren't more paranoid about where they choose to build their homes. Apparently the batibat doesn't like people sleeping near their post and transforms into its true form and attacks the person by suffocating them. Moon doesn't think that it's a batibat. She doubts that there have been any trees cut down or new houses built recently. Still, she continues read about the way to ward off the batibat, which is to bite your thumb and wiggle your toes. That seems easy enough, Moon thinks. But how would a person know that the nightmare they're having is being induced by a demon? How often do people even realize they're dreaming?

Moon looks up the baku demon next, but crosses that one off her list when she sees that it eats nightmares, not causes them. She looks up mare next. She brightens when she sees that it's a demon that rides on a person's chest as they sleep and causes nightmares. Moon reads more. As she does, she can feel her hope rising. Maybe the creature causing nightmares is a mare. Or maybe I'm just latching onto the first thing I see that fits my theory, Moon thinks. The creature might not be a mare. But it looks like a possibility worth investigating, so she read about how to ward it off. There's a chant used to ward it off and Moon writes it down. 

As she reads on, she sees that these creatures vary by region. In one area the creature can get in through the smallest hole, but if someone wakes up and plugs the hole, they'll be able to trap the creature. Then before they set them free they make them promise not to disturb the peace again. Another method of warding it off is to place your shoes so that the toes are facing the door and get into bed backwards. Another way is to put something that's made out of steel in your bed. Moon chuckles as she sees another method is to invite the creature to breakfast. She figures it would be a very interesting conversationalist. Her nose wrinkles as she sees another solution is to urinate in a new clean bottle, hang it in the sun for three days, and carry it to a stream and toss it in over your head all without saying a word. That'll be a last resort, Moon thinks. But I have to tell Sun about this. 

I might be jumping the gun a bit, Moon thinks. I've got no proof that a supernatural creature is causing these nightmares. I guess I can see if there are traces of magic in the houses when I go to visit. How am I supposed to know if it's a mare or another supernatural creature, though? On the other hand, if the causes of the nightmares are supernatural, maybe Kukui can help me. She feels a pang of guilt going to Kukui so soon. She'd just asked for his help with transforming Hau back into a human; she doesn't want him to think she's bothering him. But he might have good advice.

*  
When Moon wakes up and checks her phone she sees that she has a message from Kukui. The phone nearly falls out of her hands in her haste to read it. The message said that Kukui took Hau to a hospital and he's staying there for observation. The good news is that the curse is definitely removed and he is expected to make a full recovery. Moon exhales in relief. So Hau will be okay. She wonders if she'll be allowed to see him then erases the thought from her mind. She figures that hospital rules would mean family only and she doesn't want to intrude. She types a message to Kukui asking if Hau is having any luck with talking as yet. 

He replies quickly, saying that Hau is making a bit of progress, although for now most of the conversations consist of saying a yes or no statement to Hau and him nodding or shaking his head. But he is saying a few words, so the doctors are hopeful he'll be able to talk again soon. Moon smiles as she reads this and then before she can talk herself out of it she messages him, “I hate to bother you but I think I'm having another supernatural problem and I'd like some advice.” Moon tries to distract herself while waiting for his reply. She looks over other requests for remedies and sees with relief that there are requests for salves and balms. She's more than capable of making those.

I have enough time to make those, Moon tells herself. She gets started. There's something comforting about doing work that she's done hundreds of times before, work she knows she's capable of doing well. She breathes in the scent of the herbs, relaxing as she does so. She gets so into it that she doesn't register when her phone chimes with a message.

*

Moon hums to herself cheerfully as she clocks in. “You seem to be in a good mood,” Mallow remarks. “Have a good night?”

“Yes. I researched a bit on supernatural creatures that could cause nightmares. There's a demon called a mare that sits on your chest and rides it and causes nightmares. I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but I'm pretty excited to see that there is a supernatural creature that can cause nightmares. There are other creatures that can cause nightmares, such as the batibat, but they usually get mad when someone messes with their tree and I don't think anyone has cut down a tree recently.” An idea hits her. “Although I don't know if people could have items made from wood from its tree.” 

“I'm glad you have more ideas. You didn't stay up all night researching, did you?” 

“No.” It's the truth. Moon hadn't stayed up the entire night. Mallow eyes her suspiciously for a minute before changing the subject. “So are you feeling a bit more comfortable here?” she asks. 

“Sure. Do you think I'll be put on other duties soon?” 

“You'll probably go on the return desk soon enough. We take it in two hour shifts. The last thing you'll be trained on is the money.” Moon's brow furrowed. Why would she need to work with money? Library books are free. Mallow notices her look. “That just means that you'll be working at the circulation desk processing fines and taking payment for bus passes.” That makes a lot more sense. “What are you on right now?” she asks. They walk over to check the schedule to see that Mallow is on book drop and Moon is on router three. She goes to print out the paper she needs.

*  
Kukui finds her while she's scanning books. “How's it going?” he asks.

“Going fine,” she replies. After a minute she wonders if he was asking about the books or asking how she was in general. She decides not to dwell on it. “So Hau is going to be okay?” she asks. 

Kukui nods. “He'll be fine. We're hoping that he'll be able to talk again soon and it's just a side effect of the curse.”

“He can understand what people are saying, so that's progress.” There's other things Moon should ask, but she can't think what. She wants to ask Kukui about him helping her, but she doesn't want to bring it up. “I just came to see what new project you had in store for us. Will it be as exciting as transforming someone back into a human?” 

At the expression on his face, Moon has to smile. “I'm not sure what your standard of exciting is. But I've had people complaining about nightmares recently.” 

“And do you have any theories?” 

Moon sighs. “At first I was kind of curious because it's not like nightmares is something I'd see a lot of people complaining about, unless there was some sort of traumatic event like a natural disaster or a war. At first I didn't really have too many theories, but Mallow mentioned there being a supernatural cause of the nightmares which makes a bit more sense to me.”

Kukui nods. “And do you have any theories about the supernatural causes?” 

“I'm thinking it might be a mare. It's a demon that gets on people's chests and rides them and causes nightmares. There are other supernatural creatures that can cause nightmares, but this seems to be my best bet so far.”

“So you're going to test out the theory that the creature is a mare. What are you going to do?”

“They have charms to ward it off and if you plug up a key hole and call out the sleeper's name you can capture it.” 

Kukui is silent for a moment. “You might be better off attempting to capture the mare right off the bat.” 

Moon thinks this is because Kukui would enjoy capturing a demon, but she doesn't feel comfortable enough saying so. “Why?” she asks.

“If you capture the demon, you'll have definite proof that it was the cause of the nightmares. You know charms and chants don't always work. We have to test them numerous times to make sure they do work and something isn't a coincidence.” 

Moon remembers when she had lucky sweaters and lucky pennies. She doesn't know if the good luck she had was just coincidence or magic. She remembers one of her teachers saying that lucky rituals in sports don't work and it's best to just go for it without any lucky dances or gestures. Moon knows magic is real, but sometimes luck is just a coincidence.

She has to admit, Kukui has a point. If she captured a mare, she'd know it was causing the nightmares. She'd have proof. If she said the chant and the nightmares stopped, she wouldn't be sure if it was because the chant worked or if it was just coincidence. 

“I also have another theory. I mentioned that it might be a sorcerer or something causing nightmares Can you come with me when I visit a client's house? I have the glasses Sophocles gave me, but I don't know enough about magic and spells to know if someone has been affected by nightmare spells or whatever. So can you help me interpret them?”

“Just tell me when and where.”

Moon goes to see Audrey first. When Audrey opens the door, Moon feels her heart twist. Audrey's face is ashen and there are shadows under her eyes. Her hair is knotted and tangled. She stares at Moon and Kukui for a moment, her face blank. Moon keeps her voice gentle. “Hello, Audrey. Can we come in?” Audrey stares for a moment before nodding shakily and stepping aside. She goes to lead the way into her house, but sways and stumbles. Kukui catches her before she falls and guides her to the couch. Moon's fists clench and determination fills her. She has to find out what's causing the nightmares.

“What are you doing here?” Audrey asks. Her question is interrupted by a huge yawn. “Your potions didn't work. I still have nightmares.” Moon doesn't want to waste any time, so she quickly explains her new theories. Audrey scowls. “Why should I believe you? Your potions are useless.” Moon can't really think of a response to that, so she remains silent and lets Kukui do the talking. Kukui is able to convince Audrey that there might be a supernatural explanation for her nightmares, although Moon thinks Audrey might be so tired and desperate that she'd believe anything. Audrey keeps yawning and nodding off for a few seconds. Kukui has to keep reminding her about what they're talking about. 

Moon wonders for a moment how big the holes would have to be for a mare to slip through. She thinks it might be like the times during summer when they have a bunch of bugs everywhere in the house. It's a little amusing to imagine supernatural creatures getting into the house like she would a bug infestation. Moon puts on her glasses and can see no trace of magic around Audrey. So that might rule out someone cursing her to have nightmares. Moon isn't sure why anyone would want to do that. Maybe they feed off the energy from nightmares, like how the monsters in Monsters Inc fed off kid's fear or something along those lines.

As Moon looks around the house, she sees no traces of magic. At first she wonders if a supernatural creature would have left traces of magic, like an animal shedding fur. But then she realizes that if there are no traces of magic, that means no wards or protection. She isn't exactly sure if protection wards and spells are all encompassing (some have been known to fail) but could that be a reason only certain people got nightmares?

Moon isn't sure if Kukui is just good at persuasion or if Audrey is too sleep deprived to kick up much of a fuss, but she agrees to try and capture a mare. But Moon looks at Audrey, sees her falling asleep and then jerking awake with her eyes wide and looking at something only she could see and makes a decision.  
“I'll be the bait for the mare,” she says. “Audrey deserves a decent rest.”

“I can't get a decent rest,” Audrey murmurs. Her speech is slurred. “Every time I try I get nightmares. I can't go to sleep.”

“Would you being bait work?” Kukui asks. 

“I don't know if it's the person the mare has latched onto or the place. I think it's the place.”

“What if you're wrong? What if it's the person the mare has latched onto?”

Moon runs a hand through her hair. “Then we find some way to stop it.”

“How do you know it's even a mare?” Audrey asks. “You could be wrong.” She has a point. Moon doesn't know what they'll do if it turns out not to be a mare. Kukui has the answer though. He looks at Audrey resolutely. “Then we'll go back to the drawing board. We won't stop until we find out the causes of these nightmares.” Moon feels determination fill her. Kukui is right. If this theory is wrong, they'll go back to the drawing board. They'll keep trying until they get it right.

*  
It's weird not sleeping in her own house. Audrey has gone to stay with a friend who was not complaining about nightmares. The friend had been a little confused, but after seeing the state Audrey was in and securing a promise that Moon and Kukui wouldn't damage the property she agreed. Moon feels a little guilty about being in a stranger's house without them there. But she didn't want Audrey around in case the mare decided to go for her. She wonders what happens if there's more than one person in the house and they're both asleep at the same time. Does the mare ride them both? Or would it be like a boggart and get confused with two people? 

Moon tries to close her eyes. She knows she needs to sleep. But she can't keep her eyes from opening. She's in a stranger's home. The stranger isn't there. She and Kukui practically kicked Audrey out of her house. It's for the best, Moon tells herself. Audrey deserves to get some rest and she did agree to this. Yes, but she might not have been thinking clearly after not sleeping for a while, Moon thinks to herself. But Moon can't help but feel that she's kicked Audrey out of her home. She curls on top of Audrey's bed and tries to relax enough to go to sleep. Moon tries to empty her mind of all thoughts so she could relax. It's not working. Moon tells herself to relax. Then she realizes that even if a mare does come, Audrey might not believe her without proof. She tells Kukui to record anything unusual and then tries to go back to sleep.

But now she has another problem. It was bad enough trying to sleep in an unfamiliar location. Hotels are fine. They're the exception to the rule. Hotels feel like an adventure. Maybe it's because hotels are impersonal. But now Moon knows that she's being videotaped and she has an even harder time falling asleep. She keeps worrying that she'll do something embarrassing in her sleep. As far as she knows, she doesn't sleep talk or do anything embarrassing. But she still can't relax.

*  
Sun is dying. Sun is dying. The scent of blood fills the air. Moon closes her eyes so that she doesn't have to see her brother's mangled body, but it does no good. The images are burned into her mind. She needs to do something. Moon knows it won't do any good. Sun is too injured and she doesn't have the skills to save him. Just like she couldn't save-Moon pushes the thoughts out of her head. She can't worry about that now. She reaches for her satchel. There has to be something in it she can use to save Sun-bandages, blood replenishing potions, anything. She leaves bloody hand prints on her satchel as she yanks it open. There's nothing in the satchel. This can't be happening. This can't be happening. Moon has to have something with her. She can't feel anything except panic.

Sun is saying something. “Moon, Moon, Moon.” His voice is garbled. She can barely hear him. Moon wakes up. It's funny how in movies the dreamer will realize they're in a dream just before they wake up. They'll be talking to someone and that person will tell them to wake up and then they'll wake up. It's not like that with Moon. She isn't sure what wakes her. All she knows is that she's gasping for breath and there's a weight on her chest. For a moment she can't move. Her heart races. What happened? Someone is shouting at her, something about plugging the hole. Moon isn't sure what they mean. She struggles to move. Why can't she move? A cat is sitting on her chest. But cats aren't that heavy. The cat springs off her chest. Moon isn't sure what makes her remember what was going on, but she suddenly remembers why she's here. She lunges for the cat and grabs hold of it. “Kukui!” she yells.

“I'm on it!” The cat twists and squirms and hisses. Moon can feel the claws raking her skin, but she holds on tightly. “Got it!” Kukui calls triumphantly a few minutes later. The cat stops struggling. Kukui approaches Moon with his phone in hand as the cat changes into a beautiful girl. Moon suddenly remembers reading about how people who captured mares took them as their wives and has the ridiculous idea to suggest it to Kukui. Now what is she supposed to do?

Moon steps forward cautiously. “Hello,” she says. No response. Moon tries again. “My name's Moon.” Again the mare just stares blankly. Moon looks at Kukui. “What am I doing wrong?” she asks.

“She might not understand English,” Kukui suggests and Moon groans. Why didn't she consider the possibility of the mare not being able to communicate? In the stories the mare was able to understand people perfectly. Of course the mare did originate from another country, and the story could have just translated what the people said into English. Moon tells herself that they've made progress. They've captured the mare. “What happened?” she asks Kukui. 

He doesn't take his eyes off the mare as he replies. “You fell asleep. At about midnight I saw the cat squeeze through a hole in the wall. It jumped on your chest. You started screaming and thrashing. I kept calling and calling for you to wake up but you took a while to hear me. Then when you woke up I plugged up the hole.” 

“Can you send me the video later?” Moon asks. Kukui nods and they go back to trying to figure out how to communicate with the mare. “Do you know any spells?” Moon asks. Kukui shakes his head. Then he holds up his phone. “I can find a translator app on this,” he says. Moon isn't sure. She knows that Google translate isn't one hundred percent accurate at the very least. And she knows that some cultural references may be lost in translation when an anime is dubbed. But as long as they understand the gist of what each other is saying, Moon supposes it will be fine. And she doesn't have any better plans.

“What countries are mares from again?” Kukui asks, and Moon tells him. Kukui fiddles with his phone for a moment before speaking. “Are you a mare?” he asks. A bland female voice translates the question. The mare doesn't respond. Moon wonders if she's just being stubborn, but her expression is one of incomprehension. Moon tells him the name of another country. This time when Kukui speaks, the mare perks up. Moon's spirits lift.  
They're able to learn that she is a mare. “Can you asks if she's the one responsible for all the nightmares?” Moon asks, and Kukui complies. It takes a while, but the mare finally admits it. Moon breathes a sigh of relief. Now how to get the mare to promise that they'll leave everyone alone? She knows from the stories that the mare would be trapped in the house until they unplug the hole, but it isn't her house. After a long conversation, the mare finally agrees to leave everyone alone in exchange for breakfast. Moon has to admit that breakfast is a really small bribe, but it's doable.

*  
What is she supposed to make for breakfast? Moon and Kukui had spent the rest of the night at Audrey's house since they didn't feel like waking Audrey and her friend in the wee hours of the morning. Moon goes to meet Audrey and her friend at her friend's house. She's pleased to see Audrey looks a little better. “How do you feel?” Moon asks.

“No nightmares,” Audrey reports happily. “ I actually slept for more than an hour. What happened last night? I wasn't completely aware of what was going on.”

Her friend chimes in. “They said something about a monster hunt. I told them they better not mess up your place or else.”

“We didn't. But if you guys want to do a walk through when we get back you can.” The friend's expression makes it clear that they'll take Moon up on the offer. “Did you see anything?” Audrey asks. Moon pulls out her phone and pulls up the video Kukui sent her. It shows her curled up on Audrey's bed. Moon opens her mouth to apologize, but Audrey shushes her. Her gaze is fixed on the phone. Moon is getting bored watching herself sleep. She hears a rustle. Kukui must have heard it too because he swings the video in that direction. The cat seems to appear out of nowhere. Moon knows that there must have been a hole somewhere, but she can't see it. She supposes the laws of physics weren't applying in this case.

The cat jumps on Moon's chest. Moon watches as she begins to thrash and writhe. Kukui's voice is calling to her. When Moon jolts awake, there's a clatter and the screen goes dark. Moon can hear the sounds of a struggle. Then the video resumes and it shows the cat. The cat transforms into a girl. The video ends.

Moon looks at the other's faces. They are both slack jawed. “So it really was a monster,” Audrey murmurs, and the friend can only make a noise of agreement.

“Is it still at my house?” Audrey demands. “Why's it causing me to have nightmares? Is it going to stop?”

“The mare is still at your house. I don't know why it's causing you to have nightmares. I didn't think to ask. She's agreed to stop in exchange for breakfast.”

Audrey and her friend exchange a skeptical look. “After all the trouble this monster has caused you're telling me they'll stop in exchange for breakfast?” Moon shrugs. It does sound completely ridiculous, but she tells them that inviting them for breakfast was a common protection method. “I don't see why Audrey should have to make breakfast after she's had nightmares because of the mare,” her friend complains.

“I was actually going to bring the mare to my house so I could make breakfast,” Moon says. “I figured you wouldn't want to make breakfast after having all those nightmares.

Audrey snorts. “If all I have to do is pour some cereal and make some toast, I can do it. It'll be worth being able to actually sleep again.”

When they get to Audrey's house, they do a quick check to see that everything is in place. Audrey and her friend keep a wary distance from the mare. Moon leads the mare into the kitchen where Audrey pours cereal into a bowl and her friend puts bread in the toaster, all the while glaring at the mare. Moon hovers around awkwardly, unsure of what to do. She isn't sure if she's supposed to make breakfast since she and Kukui are the ones who invited the mare to breakfast. Does that mean the deal is off since she didn't make breakfast? She asks Audrey if it's okay if she makes coffee and Audrey nods absently.

Moon offers the coffee to the mare. Through use of hand gestures and Kukui's app, Moon is able to get the mare to understand that she's supposed to eat. The silence is awkward. Everyone eats as fast as they can and Moon can sense Audrey's eagerness to get the mare out of her house. She can't really blame her. Suddenly she's reminded of an Anastasia Krupnik book she read as a child where her father's ex was coming for dinner and Anastasia's plan was to have them eat the quickest meal possible which was hot dogs. The ex wouldn't even have had time to take off her coat before they were done eating hot dogs. It doesn't take long to finish eating toast and cereal. Moon waits for the mare to be finished with her meal. She wonders how the mare doesn't sense that impatient energy nudging at her. It's all Moon can do not to breathe a sigh of relief when the mare drains the last of her coffee.

Kukui pulls out his phone. “Now that you've gotten breakfast, you promise that you'll be on your way and not cause any more mischief?” The app translates his words. It must translate the gist of them because the mare nods. Kukui leads her back into Audrey's room and unplugs the hole. It's so minuscule Moon never would have noticed it. Kukui unplugs the hole and the mare transforms back into a cat. Even though there's no logical way the cat should be able to squeeze through the hole, it somehow does.

“Is that it?” Audrey asks.

“I guess so,” her friend replies. “Seems rather anticlimactic if you ask me.” 

“At least we didn't have to put in too much effort to get the mare to go away,” Audrey points out. She turns to Moon and Kukui. “Thank you so much. I can't even begin to thank you two for all your help.” Moon waves away her thanks and pulls out her notebook. “Don't worry about it. I'm just sorry I didn't figure it out sooner. I wrote down a few other ways to ward off mares in case another one comes back. I didn't think only one was causing all the trouble. But here are ways to ward them off. I also made little charm bags to help you with your nightmares. I guess they might not work against mare nightmares, but it should work fine against regular nightmares. Just in case you're worried about getting to sleep again.”

Moon pauses. Should she have said that last part? Was it rude? She wants to distract Audrey from what she said, but she can't think of anything to say. Audrey tries to refuse the charm bags, but Moon insists. Finally Audrey agrees. Moon tells Audrey she'll give her the charm bags as soon as she can. She also tells Audrey to let her know if she begins suffering from any more nightmares or has any more trouble sleeping. Kukui keeps pace with her as they walk away.

“Thanks a lot for your help,” Moon says.  
Kukui laughs. “No problem. Having you around has been so much fun.”

*  
It turns out a lack of sleep means a weakened immune system. More people complain of colds and coughs. Moon spends her time making potions to help with those. On the plus side, she's interviewed the clients complaining about nightmares and they've said the nightmares have stopped. However some of them are still nervous about going to sleep, so Moon works to prepare dreamless sleep potions and relaxing tea blends. She's in the middle of checking her supplies. She sees that she's running low on certain plants and tells herself that she'll have to take a trip to replenish them soon. She still hasn't explored the beach and she knows from Kukui that there's a hidden meadow nearby. 

Knocking suddenly jolts Moon from her thoughts. Who could that be? For a moment she thinks that it might be Sun, but Sun has keys. Then she thinks that it might be Mallow, but Mallow has never stopped in unannounced. She'll have to see Mallow about that girl's day now that the business of the mare is taken care of. Then Moon has the irrational thought that it might be a killer or a burglar, but what sort of killer or burglar would knock on the door? It could be a trap to lure you out, Moon thinks to herself, as the knocking comes again. She realizes that she's being ridiculous, cowering away when the visitor probably means no harm. She goes to the door and peeks out the window. A minute later she's flinging the door open.

“Hau!” she exclaims. “What are you doing here?”

“I'm here to invite you to dinner, of course!” Hau laughs and rubs the back of his head. “Man, it feels so good to talk again.”

“I'm glad the treatment worked and that you're feeling better. How are you feeling?” 

“I'm feeling great. It's awesome having thumbs again and being able to talk. And I've kicked my craving for birdseed, so that's a plus.”

“Do you remember being a bird?” Moon asks, and when she sees Hau's expression she quickly backtracks. “Never mind. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.” 

Hau's expression turns distant. “To tell you the truth, I barely remember what happened. It's like a dream. Or nightmare.” Moon can't really think of anything to say to that. “If you're having trouble sleeping, I can make potions for you to help with that.” 

“Oh yeah, I think I heard grandpa mention that you make potions. But I told you I came here to invite you to dinner.”

“Right now?” Moon asks in surprise. 

Hau nods cheerfully. “Sure. Unless you're too busy. Actually, I understand if you are since I did just barge in here and spring this invitation on you and we just met and everything but I was just so excited to meet you but if you'd rather do it another time that's fine.” Moon stares as Hau finishes rambling. “How do you do that without passing out from lack of oxygen?” she asks.

“Practice,” Hau replies. “So do you want to take a rain check for dinner?”

“No, no, I'd love to come to dinner. It's just that I don't have any wine and I don't know if I have enough time to run somewhere and get some or at least a pie for dessert.” Why did she say that? Moon inwardly groans and wishes that the ground would swallow her up whole. Of course that would remove her from her embarrassing situation, but she'd still have to face it eventually. Even if the ground swallowed her up, what would happen then? Would she just just fall through the layers of the earth? Fall into a hidden world? 

Hau waves his hand. “Don't worry about bringing anything! You helped me turn back into a human so I think it'll be fine if you don't bring over anything. And you don't have to worry about bringing dessert. I'm making masalada. It's my first time making it so it might not be as good as a restaurant's, but I decided I might as well just bite the bullet and learn how to make it. You ever notice how sometimes the food you make isn't as good as a restaurants?”

“Sure,” Moon tells him. “I used to work at a tea shop and we had a machine for hot water. And the tea would be so delicious. So I got the little tea maker they used to make tea and bought the tea myself. Except my tea never came out as good. I think it's because I could never get the water as hot as they got it at work. Or how ice cream always tastes better from an ice cream truck versus when you buy the Popsicle at a store.”

Hau nods enthusiastically. “That's exactly right. So are we on for dinner?” Moon hesitates. She really doesn't want to put Hau out of his way, but she's not technically doing so since he's inviting her. And she doesn't have any plans for dinner. “Sure,” she says. “Just give me a little bit of time to finish some things up and take a shower.”

“No problem. I'll meet you at my grandpa's house in a little bit.” He turns to go. “It was great meeting you, Moon!” 

“We've met before.” Moon laughs.

Hau rolls his eyes but he's smiling. “Yes, but now I have a chance to make a better first impression. And I'm going to do that by inviting you over to dinner and making masalada.” Moon smiles and turns to go back inside. It's amazing that Hau is talking again. He doesn't seem to be suffering any ill effects from being under a curse, but Moon tells herself that she's only talked to Hau for a few minutes and that's not enough time to assess his state of mind. Besides, that isn't her area of expertise. She also doesn't know Hau and doesn't know what typical behavior is for him. But she'll take this as a good sign.

*  
Moon had stared at her closet for a good twenty minutes trying to figure out what to wear. Should she go for formal? But she doesn't really have any formal clothes. Is the dinner formal? Probably not. Wouldn't Hau have mentioned it if that were the case? She must have something nice to wear. But she doesn't want to look like she's trying too hard. But she also doesn't want to look like she doesn't care about making a good first impression. Moon keeps going through her closet, trying to figure out what to wear, but she can't think of anything. She can't think of what clothes will look good together. She wants to call Mallow, but she doesn't want to bother her with something like this. Eventually she settles on a red dress with lacy sleeves and dark red buttons. She fastens a pair of red earrings to her ears and pins her hair up. She's made the mistake of leaving her hair down when she's eaten before and she doesn't want to suffer the embarrassment of getting hair in her mouth or in her food.

Hau has said she didn't need to bring anything, but Moon doesn't want to show up empty handed so she goes to her garden and picks some flowers. Then she hesitates. She knows the flowers have certain meanings in Kanto, but what if they have different meanings in Alola? What if the flowers she's selected are a passive aggressive way of saying “fuck you?” Moon tells herself she's being ridiculous and the more likely thing is that Hau and Hala will be allergic to the flowers she's selected. But when Moon arrives at their house and presents the flowers to Hala, he doesn't start sneezing, so Moon takes it as a good sign. Of course his hypothetical allergies could kick in a little later.

“Good to see you again, Moon!” Hala booms. “I hear I have you to thank for helping my grandson.”

“And Kukui and Sophocles,” Moon adds. “They helped me figure out what was wrong and what I could do.” 

Hala stands aside so Moon can enter. Dinner is a chicken dish, made with coconut and ginger and a hint of lime and spices. Moon eats with relish. “Grandpa is an awesome cook,” Hau says, and Moon can only nod in agreement.

“Unfortunately my talents don't seem to have rubbed off on him if today's attempt at a masalada is any indication.”

Hau rubs the back of his neck. “I had a little trouble with the dough. But I think they still taste good.”

“Thanks to me,” Hala teases. Moon is bursting to ask Hau if he remembers what happened, but doesn't want to bring it up. Instead she listens to Hau tell her about the best places in the city and the fun things to do. He asks her how she's settling and Moon says she's settling in fine. Moon tells him about life in Kanto. “Did you usually do curse breaking in Kanto?”

“No, I usually work with potions. My brother works protecting people from supernatural creatures.”

“Did he move here with you?” Hala asks.

“Yes. But he's away on business and he hasn't given me full details on his cases so I'm not sure what's going on. He does keep in contact as often as he can.”

“You guys must have gotten into some adventures, right?” Hau asks. Moon nods and tries to think of an an exciting story to tell Hau, but her mind is blank. She knows that once she leaves she'll be able to recall stories, but now she can't. She thinks she's been too quiet for too long and tries to think of something else to say. “So how's Kahuna business going? Are my potions working for you?”

“Kahuna business is going fine. And your potions are working well, thank you.” Hala looks concerned when he says that Kahuna business is going fine but Moon doesn't call him on it.

After dinner, Hau brings out the masalada. Despite Hau and Hala's remarks, the masalada is good, but she's never had it before so she isn't the best judge. Hau gapes when he hears this and says that they have to go out to get decent masalada. Moon laughs and agrees, but says that she has a girl's day planned and Mallow did ask first. She hopes Sun comes home soon so he can meet her new friends.

After the masalada, Hau turns to Moon. “I suppose you want to know what happened to me, right?”  
Moon waves her hands. “No. I mean, I do, but you don't have to feel obligated to tell me if you don't want to.”  
“No, I want to. And it's easier to talk about things over food, don't you think?” Moon doesn't really have an opinion on the matter ,so she makes a noncommittal noise. Hau begins his story. “I was investigating supernatural activity on route three when I saw a beautiful woman.” Moon doesn't know Hau well enough to tease him about how beautiful women appearing where there's supernatural activity going down. 

“I can't remember the rest. I think I might have said something, but next thing I know something is being thrown in my face. I can't remember much from my time as a bird.” 

“Did you find the woman?” Moon asks. “Kukui said that the curse had faerie magic. Was the woman a faerie?”

“I went back to where she was but I found no trace of her,” Hau said. “Of course she would have to be pretty stupid to just keep hanging out in the same place.”

“You'd be surprised at the stupid mistakes criminals make,” Moon tells him. “And maybe she didn't expect you to be turned back into a human.” 

Hau concedes the point.

“What I'm concerned about is whether or not the attack was random,” Hala breaks in. 

Hau frowns. “You think I might have been a target?” 

“You are my grandson,” Hala points out.

“But there has to have been easier ways to lure me into a trap in that case,” Hau argues. Moon has to agree that if a Kahuna is a position of power that it stands to reason that their loved ones would be in danger. But if it was a trap, how would the faerie have known that Hau would be the one to investigate? Is he the only one to investigate? And if they do catch the faerie, what would they do to her?

“And you didn't recognize the faerie or have any idea of who it might be?” Moon asks. “Does faerie stuff happen often here? Like changelings, sour milk, that sort of thing?”

“I didn't recognize the faerie,” Hau replies. 

Moon interrupts. “Anyway, don't faeries have glamour? Doesn't that mean they can disguise themselves? So technically you could be walking past them and you wouldn't know it. Although you can see through glamour out of the corner of your eyes but you probably wouldn't get a good look and not be fully sure of what you saw. Or you could find ways to see through faerie glamour. Four leaf clovers and rowan are supposed to help, as well as a rock with a naturally occurring hole, like one made by water. Or do you think enchanted glasses would work? Sophocles (he's one of my friends, by the way) made glasses that can see spells and stuff. But when I wore the glasses, all I could see was magic. I couldn't tell who you were. And neither could Kukui. Although maybe faerie glamour is different than faerie magic that's used to cast spells and stuff? I know faerie magic is different than human magic based on what Kukui said.” Moon pauses because her mouth has gone dry.

Hala takes the chance to speak. “Lusamine might have an idea of who the faerie was.”

Hau rises a little from his seat. “You can't accuse Lusamine of turning me into a bird!” he exclaims.

Hala regards him calmly. “I'm not accusing her of anything. I'm merely going to ask her if she's heard anything about people being turned into birds or anyone who would have the ability to do so.”

Moon can't help herself. The question slips out like an accidental burp. “Who is Lusamine?” 

Hau claps his hand to his head. “That's right, I forgot you wouldn't know. Lusamine is Queen of the Seelie Court.”

Moon has heard of faerie courts before, but she's never been to one or even encountered a faerie. That you know of, she corrects herself. You could have walked right past a faerie and not noticed because of the glamour. “And you think she has something to do with Hau turning into a bird or knows something?” 

Hau sits back down. “We don't believe Lusamine is responsible for attacking me,” he says. “The Seelie Court have a treaty in place stating that they don't attack us or anything. And in return we leave them alone.”

“Would she break the treaty?” Moon asks, and Hala shakes his head.

“She has no reason to break the treaty. And fae don't break promises.”

“I've heard they were good at finding loopholes, though,” Moon says. “But you don't think Lusamine would attack anyone, right? And that she might know who would? And you're going to ask her?”

Hala nods. “I intend to ask her if she's heard anything. I'll have to be careful about how I phrase it so it doesn't sound like I'm accusing her. He pauses for a moment and then looks at Moon. “It might be a good idea for you to come to court,” Hala says. Moon gapes. Why on earth would she need to go to a faerie court? She's heard the stories about people spending a night with the faeries and coming back to find out that a hundred years have passed and everyone they know is dead. But another part of her is curious to see what a faerie court is like, even though Moon knows she should bury that part of herself. 

“Why would she need to come to court?” Hau exclaims. “Moon has nothing to do with this.”

“She found you and helped break the curse. She saw when you transformed back into a human.”

“So as a witness, then. But you know that Lusamine will just say that humans lie. She might not believe us.”

“I have another reason,” Hala admits. “I need to renegotiate the terms of the treaty to include Moon.” Moon looks at Hala in shock. “What do you mean?” she asks. 

Hala sighs. “It wasn't that long ago that we negotiated that contract,” he said. “You weren't a citizen at the time and we don't get many newcomers. I don't know if the treaty would include you. Lusamine might argue that since you weren't a resident at the time the treaty doesn't apply to you.”

Moon chews on her lip. She isn't sure if that logic makes sense. It kind of does, in a roundabout way, but Moon is pretty sure she could argue against it.  
“Does Moon have to be there?” Hau asks. “Couldn't you just say that there's a new resident on the island?” 

Moon sighs in relief that Hau is giving her an out. But at the same time, she does want to see a faerie court. But she's being reckless. Moon suddenly becomes aware that Hala is speaking to her. “What do you think, Moon? Hau is right. You don't have to go to the Seelie Court if you don't want to.”

Moon considers it. If there is a treaty in place, then Lusamine and the court shouldn't be able to do anything to her. But there are ways around that. She makes up her mind. “I think I'll skip out on meeting the faerie queen,” she says, and Hau breathes a sigh of relief. 

*  
Unfortunately, Moon is not able to skip out on meeting Lusamine. Hau arrives at her house a few days later, his mouth set in a grim line. “You've been summoned to meet Lusamine,” he announces without preamble. 

Moon takes a moment to digest his words. She understands what he's saying, but she still asks, “What do you mean?” Maybe she misunderstood. Or maybe it's just a way to delay the inevitable. “Lusamine has ordered that you come to court,” Hau says gravely. 

Moon's heart skips a beat. “Wh-why?” she stutters.

“I don't know.” Moon's heart thuds. Her mouth goes dry. She knows she has to go. She can't turn down an invitation from a queen, never mind a faerie queen. The ball is in Lusamine's court now. Moon is at a disadvantage. What is she supposed to wear? How is she supposed to act? Why does Lusamine want to meet her? Does the treaty apply to her? Moon takes several deep breaths, but they don't help to calm her. She looks at Hau. She wants to ask Hau if he and Hala would come with her, but she doesn't want to be clingy. “Okay,” she says. “I'll get ready. Does she want to meet me now?” 

Hau rolls his eyes. “Yes. Sorry about the short notice.” Moon tries to smile. She tries to keep her voice light as she jokes, “Well, you know how queens are. They don't like to be kept waiting.” But she can hear the tremble in her voice and is pretty sure Hau does too. He places a hand on her shoulder. “Don't worry, Moon. Grandpa and I won't let anything happen to you.” Moon calms down a bit as she hears this. But there's still a knot in her stomach.

What is she supposed to wear? She's going to meet a queen and she has to make a good first impression. Should she wear red? Red is supposed to symbolize power and confidence. But she's read that red is supposed to hide people from faeries, so probably not. Now might not be the best time to test that theory. Maybe purple? Purple is supposed to symbolize royalty. But what if Lusamine takes it to mean that Moon considers herself a queen? In the end she settles for a white dress that flares out.

Her mind goes towards protection. She's pretty sure she can find something iron and she knows that faeries don't like certain herbs. Moon doesn't want to go to the Seelie Court unprotected, but what if the faeries can sense the iron and the plants? What if she tries to sneak in iron and gets caught? For all she knows the faeries have a sort of iron detector like humans have metal detectors. If she's caught with iron or any other form of protection, Lusamine might take that as an insult. She might interpret that as Moon saying that she doesn't trust Lusamine. She's also sure it's rude to flaunt things that people don't like in their homes. 

But she doesn't want to be unprotected. But Lusamine wouldn't summon her to court just so she could attack her. Or maybe she would. Moon's mouth is dry. She knows that Hau and Hala says that they will protect her, but she doesn't want to rely on them. She's read a book where someone managed to sneak in iron into a faerie court. Maybe it depends on the amount of iron she has.

“Are you ready?” Hau calls.

“Just a minute,” Moon calls back. Her voice shakes. Should she or shouldn't she take protection? What does she expect to happen? Hau got turned into a bird by the faeries. But he and Hala both say that Lusamine and her court wouldn't have been responsible. Before Moon can change her mind, she grabs a bit of yarrow and shoves it in her shoes. It's probably not the best defense, but she doesn't have the guts to bring iron into a faerie court. She comes out of her room. “Sorry about keeping you waiting.”

“Hey, I'd be trying to stall as well. We're going to meet at Grandpa at the cemetery.” Moon starts. She hasn't even considered where the Seelie Court would be located, but she wouldn't have considered a cemetery. “Not afraid of cemeteries, are you?” Hau asks. Moon laughs and spends the walk telling Hau about how she and Sun went looking for black dogs and how she pulled up a few mandrakes. She's about to start telling him about the time a necromancer raised the dead but wasn't a very powerful one so he couldn't control the dead very well when they arrive at the cemetery.

Hala is waiting at the gate. Moon feels her heart rate slow down as she sees him. She smiles and Hala smiles back sadly. “I'm sorry to have dragged you into this,” he says, and Moon nods. She can do this. Hau and Hala are with her. She helped turn Hau back into a human. Maybe she should have brought a bit of the powder with her. She also should have brought her glasses, but she forgot. Yarrow is supposed to give people the sight, but she isn't sure if it's true. Why didn't she use the yarrow when she was helping Hau? Right. She'd already had the glasses and those had worked perfectly fine. They step into the cemetery.

The cemetery looks like a regular cemetery. There are rows and rows of headstones, some of them more worn than others. Moon can see flowers and overgrown grass on some of them. Moon had expected the cemetery to look less ordinary. She'd expected zombies or monsters or at least flickering lights but this is just a regular cemetery. There's not even a menacing fog in the air. It's not even a cloudy night. Moon tries to look out of the corner of her eye in case there are faeries around, but she can't see anything. She tells herself she'll see faeries soon enough.

“Now what?” she asks.

Hala points to a tree in the center of the cemetery. “The court is there.” Moon's heart rate picks up again. She reminds herself that she's with Hau and Hala and they won't let her get hurt. The tree is about average in size. There aren't any leaves on the tree. Moon has seen trees with markings that look like faces and she's told herself stories about people being turned into trees, but this tree looks nothing like that. It just looks like a regular tree. Moon has to admit that she's slightly disappointed. If she's going to go to a faerie court, she'd expected the entrance to be a little grander. But that's how it is in stories, she says to herself. The entrance is unassuming, but when you get inside it's extraordinary. The most amazing things are hidden in plain sight. 

Moon is about to ask what they're supposed to do when something sharp suddenly digs into her throat. At first Moon isn't sure what happened and she thinks maybe it's a bug or she ran into a sharp branch, but then she glances downward. She sees the sword. Her mind goes blank and her body freezes. A voice growls, “Intruders. What are you doing here?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Artistic liberty taken with treatment of injuries.

Moon can't move, which is probably for the best since there's a sword digging into her neck hard enough to draw blood. It's only a tiny trickle, nothing fatal, but Moon freezes anyway. She can't think. She can only feel the sharp point of the sword and feel the drop of blood sliding down her throat. She wills herself to move, but her body won't obey her. Her captor (is that the right word? Moon can't think of the appropriate one) growls again, “I asked you what you were doing here.”

Right. They'd come here for a purpose. Moon opens her mouth and finds that no noise comes out. She makes a croaking sound, but that's all that she can muster. “I'm waiting,” the swordsman growls. Moon knows that it's not a good idea to antagonize someone with a sword or any weapon for that matter, particularly if that weapon is pointed at her and she has no way to defend herself, but she can't help but think that she'd be able to think better if there wasn't a weapon pointed at her. Of course a weapon pointed at her would make her more inclined to answer questions, except that having a weapon pointed at her meant she couldn't focus long enough to answer any questions.

Hala steps forward. “Let her go.” His voice is calm.

“You still haven't told me what your purpose is here.” 

“We-” Hau begins to say, but the swordsman cuts him off sharply. 

“I asked the girl.” He glares at her and Moon wills herself to speak. “Faeries,” she croaks. “I came at the request of the faeries.” Moon feels a moment of triumph that she was able to actually get words out, followed by a moment of panic. Was she supposed to mention Lusamine? Was she supposed to call her Queen Lusamine? What was the protocol for addressing a Faerie Queen? Moon didn't even know the protocol for addressing a human queen.

“It's true,” Hala says. “Queen Lusamine requested that we bring Moon for an audience and so we could bring her in on the treaty between the humans and the Seelie Court.” Moon wonders if the contract has been broken. She's had a sword pointed at her and the sword has injured her slightly. But she's new to the island, so maybe the treaty doesn't technically apply to her. And she supposes it could be argued that the swordsman thought she was trespassing. 

Minutes tick by. Moon holds her breath although she doesn't see how that will help anything. After what feels like an eternity, the sword is removed from her neck. Moon presses a hand to the wound. It's not really bleeding much. “I'll take you to Queen Lusamine,” the swordsman says, and turns and walks into the tree without a backward glance. Funnily enough, Moon is reminded of video games when the NPC finally stops talking and her character is just standing around idly before she has to go on the next quest.

“Are you okay?” Hala asks. 

Moon nods. “I'm fine. It's barely a scratch.” There's only a slight waver in her voice, but Moon thinks she's earned the right to it.

“Are you sure? You're trembling,” Hau points out, and Moon realizes that her knees are knocking together. Get a hold of yourself, she commands herself, but it doesn't work. Her legs still tremble uncontrollably. She takes several deep breaths and tries to focus on something else. She can't think of anything so she decides to just focus on what lies ahead. “So do we just go through the tree?” she asks. She feels like she should make a joke about the Whomping Willow, but she can't figure out how.

“Yes,” Hala tells her. 

Moon tries to smile. “Secret tree passages, cool.” 

She goes to step forward, but Hau grabs her arm. “It'll be okay, Moon. We've got your back. The faeries won't blatantly attack you or anything.” Moon raises her eyebrows and Hau sighs. “Okay, maybe there is a little leeway between what faeries and humans constitute as an attack.”

“I suppose I should consider having a sword pointed at my neck the equivalent of a warning shot,” Moon says.  
“We're sorry we didn't do anything. We just didn't want to risk you getting hurt.” Moon hadn't wondered why Hala and Hau weren't intervening, but this reasoning makes sense. She takes a deep breath. Let's get this over with, she tells herself. Before she can talk herself out of it or find something new to worry about, she steps into the tree. It just feels like she's passed through an open door. She's expecting to be inside a dirt tunnel with the roots of the trees forming a roof, but instead she finds herself in a bright white hallway. 

“This isn't what I expected,” she says out loud. 

“What did you expect?” the swordsman appears at her side. 

Moon jumps. “Are you going to pull a sword on me if I don't answer?” she asks. 

He stares. “No. And I didn't pull a sword on you because you didn't answer a question.” His voice is matter of fact. “I pulled a sword on you because I thought you were trespassing.” Moon doesn't mention that pointing a sword at someone might be a bit of an overreaction to a trespasser. She also doesn't mention that she wasn't a trespasser. She decides to make a joke. “Are you going to point your sword at me if you don't like my answer?” 

“You're in the Seelie Court and at Queen Lusamine's invitation. It's forbidden for me to draw steel against a guest.”

“You drew steel on me just now,” Moon points out. The words draw steel feel unfamiliar on her tongue, like a piece of food she can't spit out.

“You weren't in the court at the time. The tree marks the entrance.” Moon digests this. Then she plays his words over again. She speaks before thinking. “That really doesn't make me feel any better. The part about not drawing steel, I mean. I mean, there are plenty of ways to hurt someone besides pulling a sword on them. You can strangle them, for example. Poison them. Hit them in the head with something. Drown them. Push them from a great height. Suffocate them.”

“Even just beating them up can hurt someone,” Hau chimes in. 

The swordsman rolls his eyes. “Then I swear I will not do intentional harm to you while you are guests here.”

“Sounds fair to me,” Moon says. “It's amazing how many loopholes things have, isn't it? Like this one book I read where this teacher makes a bet with her class that she can get a student off the chair using only the power of language. And she isn't allowed to make any contact with him whatsoever, order him off, threaten him, or anything like that. But before the teacher walks around the room three times, he'll no longer be on it. He gets off the chair. Then there was this other book where the main character was at this faerie party event, and the guests were forbidden from drawing blood. I think squeezing someone's head might have been involved.” She claps her hands. “Oh, I forgot another way to hurt people- you can set them on fire.”

“Or toss them into a pack of wild animals. Or venomous animals,” Hau adds.

“We shouldn't keep Queen Lusamine waiting,” the swordsman says and strides off.

“He's right,” Hala says. Moon is struck by how the Seelie Court hallway looks like a doctor's office or a lab. Maybe a lab, Moon thinks. It's a bright, sterile white. Even doctors' offices have generic paintings. Moon figures that the appearance is because of faerie glamour. But honestly, why would anyone want to make their home look as sterile and uninviting as possible? Moon shrugs. She supposes there's no accounting for taste. The faeries could at least add a little color, Moon thinks. Focusing on the decorating abilities of the faeries helps keep her calm. She tries to see what the room really looks like by glancing out of the corner of her eye, but she can't make anything out.

But as they get closer to a golden door carved with ornate designs, Moon's feet slow. Her heartbeat gets quicker. I can do this, she tells herself. Hau and Hala are with me. And dude did promise that he wouldn't hurt me. Of course he doesn't speak for the rest of the court. But I doubt Queen Lusamine would invite me here just to attack me. Doing that probably violates guest rights or something along those lines. And honestly, it's not like I'm really worth killing, although it's not like some people don't kill for really dumb reasons.

“I'll be fine,” Moon tells herself, as the swordsman knocks on the door. 

“Enter,” a melodic voice calls out. They do. Moon's first absurd thought is that it looks like the cafeteria at school. Same large room, same long tables, same stage at the front of the room. Only instead of a lunch monitor yelling at kids to sit down, a woman rises from a golden throne. Her hair is long and blonde. She's dressed simply in a plain white dress. Moon stares. She assumes this must be Lusamine. Her mouth goes dry. 

Hala nudges Moon forward. Moon wills her feet to move. There are other faeries here. Moon can see tails, wings, and claws. She doesn't stop to look. Staring at the faeries is rude and it would be really undignified to stop and start gawking. You can do this, Moon tells herself. Everything is going to be okay. This will be over soon and you'll feel stupid for getting so worried. It'll be just like when you go to the dentist.

Before she knows it, Moon is standing in front of Queen Lusamine. Is she supposed to bow or curtsy? Is she supposed to kneel? She's pretty sure she shouldn't just stand here. What is she supposed to do? The swordsman sinks to one knee. Moon breathes a small sigh of relief and copies him. She figures it's best for her to wait for Queen Lusamine to speak. When Queen Lusamine speaks, her voice is melodic. “Rise, Moon.” Moon shakily gets to her feet. Queen Lusamine steps forward and runs a finger down her neck. “How did you come by this injury?” 

Moon pauses. She doesn't want to be the type of person to be worried about tattling and things like that, but she doesn't want to get the swordsman in trouble. “It was an accident,” she said, which she supposes could be true from a technical standpoint. If he'd wanted to hurt her, he could have. Lusamine's expression doesn't change. “An accident?” 

She turns to the swordsman. “Gladion,” she says.

He looks up. “Your majesty?”

“Do you know how Moon came by such an injury?” Moon wants to shuffle her feet or fold her arms or fidget in some way, but that would make her look weak. She wants to sink into the floor or turn invisible, but that's not going to happen. She wants to tell Queen Lusamine to not make a fuss, but she doesn't want to interrupt a queen.  
“I do.” There's no inflection in her voice.

“I see. Would you care to tell the court how it happened?” 

Gladion hesitates. Moon feels a stab of pity. She knows it sucks to be called out for something in front of a crowd. Moon looks at Hala and Hau. They both look like they want to stop this line of questioning. 

“I was responsible,” Gladion mutters. “It wasn't my intention-”

Queen Lusamine holds up her hand and Gladion's jaw snaps shut. She begins to circle him. “So, Gladion. You attempted to violate guest right at my court. You know what a serious offense that is. Perhaps it would be better if you were no longer in my employ.” 

Gladion's eyes bulge. He begins to claw at his jaw until his nails leave bloody tracks across his face. He shakes his head back and forth frantically. The other faeries are snickering. Moon sees the desperation in Gladion's eyes and the blood running down his face. “No!” the word explodes out of her mouth before Moon can stop it. “You can't fire him!” 

Hala moves forward and places a hand on her shoulder. “Easy, Moon,” he says softly. Queen Lusamine turns her gaze to Moon. “Are you attempting to tell me how to run my court?” Her voice is calm and sweet. Moon can't get her mouth to work for a minute. She glances at Hau, sees his slight nod, and then glances at Gladion. He's hunched over, but he meets Queen Lusamine's gaze steadily. Something in his eyes gives Moon courage. “I would never dream of doing such a thing. Forgive me, I misspoke.” Please let her buy this, Moon pleads. “It's just- Gladion didn't do anything wrong.” She keeps her eyes on Queen Lusamine's face. She merely raises an eyebrow. 

Moon rushes on. “Technically, we weren't at the court when he attacked, so he didn't violate guest right. And he didn't really attack me. He pointed a sword at me, which I didn't like, but it's not like I was hurt. My skin breaks easily, that's all. I bruise easily. Do you know how many times I wake up with a new bruise? And Gladion was just being efficient. He thought I was an intruder and reacted accordingly.” Queen Lusamine doesn't speak. Moon is reminded of that awkward moments in school when she gave an answer and the teacher didn't respond right away. Her heart thuds. She looks at Gladion, but he just looks straight ahead, his expression stony.

Queen Lusamine laughs. Her laugh is high and tinkling and Moon immediately relaxes. “I can't argue against that logic!” she says cheerfully. She brushes a hand against Gladion's cheek. His wounds heal. Moon stares. Do all faeries have healing powers or is it just Queen Lusamine? “Gladion,” she speaks softly and gently, but her voice carries. She's playacting, Moon realizes. She's performing. Moon has the ridiculous urge to say that there's nothing to see here and hustle everyone into a room. 

“I shouldn't have threatened you. Say you forgive me.” Queen Lusamine is still caressing Gladion's cheek. Gladion doesn't answer, but he nods his head jerkily. Queen Lusamine laughs. She turns to Moon, her eyes bright. “I have you to thank, Moon. Thank you for preventing me from making a hasty mistake.”

Moon manages to croak out a “you”re welcome.” Queen Lusamine turns to her court and throws her hands wide. She's talking, something about introducing Moon to the court, but Moon can barely hear her. She gazes out into the crowd of faeries. She sees the horns and the wings but she can barely register them. Moon turns to look at Gladion. He's risen to his feet, but other than that, he hasn't moved. He stands stiffly, his fists clenched. Moon's heart goes out to him as she remembers how he'd writhed on the ground in front of an entire crowd. When they make eye contact, she smiles in what she hopes is a reassuring way. Gladion turns away.

*  
Moon is ushered into a room along with Hala, Hau, Queen Lusamine and Gladion. Gladion takes up a post at the door. Moon sinks into a plush red chair. Hau flops down into the chair next to her. “So, being introduced to a faerie court wasn't so bad,” he says cheerfully. Moon can only nod. She doesn't think it's a good idea to mention the fact that she had no idea what was going on. What's going to happen now? She was introduced to the court. Is she going to have to give blood or something?

“I'm sorry to keep you, Moon. I just had a few matters I'd like to clear up.” Moon nods. Queen Lusamine smiles. “You say you ended Hau's curse. Could you elaborate on that, please?” Moon takes a deep breath. She can't believe a faerie queen wants to know more about that. She glances at Hau and Hala, and then begins telling the story. She's aware of how stupid her voice sounds-how high and childish it is, how she stumbles over her words. 

“And do you believe such methods would end other faerie curses?” Queen Lusamine asks.

“I don't know, your Majesty.” Crap, that sounds bad. Moon hastens to explain herself. “I mean, that is, what I mean to say, is that I haven't formed any conclusive results.” Crap, that still isn't explaining anything. Why can't she think? She looks like an idiot. Moon tries to imagine that she's speaking to Sun or Mallow or Kukui. It doesn't work. “I don't want to generalize the results. Sure, Hau is human again, but there might be other factors with the curse ending, like the strength of the caster. And there was the fact that I used a combination of things on the curse. I don't know if they'd be effective on another faerie curse.”

“Why not?” Gladion interrupts. He stares at Moon intently. “The curse was ended using plants, salt, and iron. It was a faerie curse. It stands to reason those methods could end other faerie curses.” 

Moon smiles at Gladion. He glares back. “One thing they drilled into me while I was at college is to never say the results of an experiment proves something. There are always factors that we might not be aware of. It was drilled into my head to say that the results suggest something. Which makes sense. Things are always changing. New discoveries are always being made and then we have to rework theories and stuff like that. And I only did that experiment once and with only one test subject. Sorry for calling you a test subject, Hau. But anyway, it's usually best for experiments and things to be able to appeal to a wide array of people, not just one person. It's not like if I make a cure for something and tested it on one person and they were fine I'd declare it a success. It'd have to work on others as well.”

“So what you're saying is that what happened may have been a fluke.” Gladion states bluntly. 

“It wasn't a fluke!” Hau exclaims. “I'm human again, aren't I?” 

“It's alright, Hau,” Hala says calmly. 

“It might have been a fluke,” Moon agrees. “That's what I said and that's why I think you shouldn't get your hopes up on just one experiment. We'd have to repeat the experiment over and over again to make sure the curse ending was a result of what was used.”

Hau raises his hand. “Do you guys want me to volunteer to be a bird again?”

Hala forbids it immediately. He turns to Queen Lusamine. “Have you had any luck with the faerie who cursed Hau?” he asks.

Queen Lusamine shakes her head. “Unfortunately we have not. They seemed to have disappeared into thin air.” Moon frowns at this. The faerie must be really powerful. Surely a queen with all her resources could find one faerie. She wonders if the faerie has cursed anyone else. She's probably going to look at birds and have her first thought be, “Are you a cursed human?” Queen Lusamine speaks again. “And if we were able to locate the faerie, they aren't a member of my court.” Moon assumes that means she has no authority over faeries that weren't members of her court. Words like extradition and foreign countries swirl around in her head. She wonders what will happen if they do catch the faerie who cursed Hau?

Queen Lusamine stands up. “It's getting late. I know you all must have duties you must attend tomorrow. I apologize for keeping you. Moon, from now on you will be included in the treaty between humans and faeries.” Moon doesn't move for a moment. Is that it? Why did she have to come to court right now? Why did she have to meet Queen Lusamine in front of her court? Well, she did have to introduce Moon to the court. But is this really it? Queen Lusamine just says that she's included in the treaty and they all go home?

Before she can think better of it, Moon blurts out, “So that's it? You don't need me to do a blood oath or anything?” She claps a hand to her mouth. “I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me.” Wait, maybe she should have spoken more formally. 

“I'm afraid there won't be any blood oaths today,” Queen Lusamine tells her. “Don't look so nervous. I'm not going to behead you or sew your mouth shut for speaking out of turn.” Queen Lusamine smiles warmly. Moon musters a little smile, but she remembers how Queen Lusamine had let Gladion writhe and bleed on the floor in front of everyone. Her smile falters. If Queen Lusamine notices, she doesn't give any indication. “Hala, Hau, a pleasure to see you both again. I'll walk you out.” 

Moon goes to follow them, but Gladion grabs her wrist. He's glaring at her. “I didn't need your help,” he snaps. 

“What?”

“I didn't need you to speak for me. I would have been fine.” His shoulders are hunched and his grip on her wrist tightens, but not to the point of pain. Moon isn't sure what to say. She isn't sure if she'd expected gratitude or not, but she definitely hasn't expected outright denial of needing her help. Moon holds her hands up in a placating gesture. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. I just didn't think it was right for her to fire you when I wasn't hurt. And like I said, we weren't in court at the time and to be honest it was embarrassing to be in the middle of the stage (or I think it was a dais) when she was yelling at you. And you seemed like you really needed this job. Do faerie jobs work the same way human jobs work? But anyway, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you and interfered when I shouldn't have.” 

“Do you ever stop talking?” Gladion asks, and Moon shrugs. In truth, Gladion's words sting a little. He didn't mean anything by it, she tells herself. He isn't trying to insult you. He doesn't know you. Moon tugs her wrist out of Gladion's grip and turns away. She tries to sound cheerful. “Well, we've established that you didn't need my help and I have stuff to do, so I'm just going to go.”

“Wait,” Gladion calls, and Moon groans and rolls her eyes. It's on the tip of her tongue to snap at him, but she resists the urge. She plasters on a pleasant smile instead. She doesn't trust her voice not to betray her annoyance, so she just raises her eyebrows, which probably makes her look stupid. “You need to be careful,” Gladion tells her. “Making a joke about blood oaths was idiotic. There are some faeries that would have taken you up on it and overlooked the fact that you were joking. You can't make jokes like that in a faerie court.”

Moon sags. Gladion is right. Who knows what would have happened if she'd been dealing with a faerie who would have taken advantage of that? Hasn't she read enough books about being careful with her words around supernatural creatures? Moon feels a rush of affection for Gladion. He didn't have to warn her, but he did. “Th-”

“Stop!” Gladion yells. He stalks up to her. “Don't you know anything?” He runs his fingers through his hair. “I don't understand it!” He paces back and forth. “How can you know about ending curses and what plants are good against faeries, but not why you should be careful with your words while speaking with them?”

“I'm an idiot savant?” Moon attempts to joke, but her smile falls flat at the look on Gladion's face. “Look, I work with plants a lot. I'm interested in the folklore, so I know a bit more about them. It's not like I was brushing up on faerie etiquette constantly. And just because I know about one aspect involving faeries doesn't mean I know about all the aspects. Take science for example. There are all kinds of scientific fields. Not everyone is an expert in all of them.”

“Just be careful,” Gladion growls, and Moon nods. 

“So why can't I say the t word?” she asks. 

“Saying thank you implies you owe that faerie a debt, and they'll be sure to collect.” Moon bites her tongue before she can say thank you. “I'm going to go.” She almost tells Gladion to have a good night, but stops herself. For all she knows saying something like that could be a secret invitation to who knows what. “Wait!” Gladion calls out again. 

This time Moon does not bother hiding her glare. She snaps, “What?” She's too tired to worry if she sounds rude. Gladion looks at her and then glances away. His fists clench. “I didn't mean to hurt you,” he said. “I wasn't trying to. I wasn't expecting you to bleed.”

Moon smiles. She moves forward and reaches a hand out to Gladion, but he jerks away. Moon's hand hovers in the air for a moment before she slowly lowers it. She laughs to cover the awkward moment. “Hey, don't worry about it. Like I said before, you weren't really trying to hurt me. So I say let's let bygones be bygones.” 

Gladion nods jerkily and Moon hurries away before Gladion can think of something else he wants to tell her. Hau and Hala are waiting for her at the entrance to the court. “What took you so long?” Hau asks. Moon waves a hand and mumbles something about Gladion needing to ask her a question. “So, what happened with that teacher?” Hau asks, as they set off towards home. Moon blinks. When had she mentioned a teacher?

“You know, when you were telling us about that book you were reading,” Hau prompts. “The one with the teacher making a bet with the student?”

“Oh, yes. Well, like I said, the teacher bet the student that he couldn't stay on the chair before she walked around it three times. And she's walking around the chair and does it twice and the bell rings. And teacher is like, “Okay, bye kids.” And dude is like, “What am I supposed to do? Just sit here?” And teacher is like, “Pretty much. I never said when I'd finish walking circles around the chair. I might do it right now, tonight, tomorrow, in two weeks. I'll do it sometime before I die. And your end of the deal is to stay on the chair until I do. So he gets up.”

Hau laughs. “Pretty cool.”

“So, do you guys work with Queen Lusamine a lot?” Moon asks.

“Not usually,” Hala replies. “We may work together on occasion, but that's rare. We keep to ourselves for the most part.”

Hau chimes in. “That's right. Queen Lusamine is capable of handling her faerie business on her own and helping out faeries can be pretty complicated.” Moon remembers how Gladion had warned her against saying thank you at the court and nods. She can see how allying with a faerie court would be a huge headache. 

“So now what?” she asks.

“We go home and get some rest,” Hau tells her. “You probably won't have any interaction with the Seelie Court. They mind their business and we mind ours, unless otherwise asked.” 

*  
When Moon gets home, she looks at the wound on her neck. It's not really a wound. Gladion had pushed the sword a little bit harder than he should have. The blood has dried up. Moon remembers the yarrow on her person and rolls her eyes at herself. It had been useless when Gladion was pointing a sword at her. She'd actually forgotten she'd had it on her. Honestly, what did she think she was going to do? Wave a plant and be like, “Get back?” Still, she made it through a visit to faerie court alive and in one piece. And aside from what happened with Gladion, the visit had gone smoothly. Moon clenches her fists as she remembers Queen Lusamine's treatment of him. She tries to tell herself that maybe there's a part of their dynamic that she's missing, but it doesn't work. I can't do anything about it right now, Moon tells herself. She and Gladion are barely acquaintances. Moon can't expect Gladion to confide in a girl he just met. 

*  
Things at the library are progressing nicely. Moon is faster at sorting books. She's being trained on the return desk. It turns out the worst part of working at the return desk is how boring it is. It really doesn't make any sense for them to have a desk solely for returns. Sure, it can be annoying to wait in line at the circulation desk when you just needed to return a book, but it seems dumb to have a desk just to return items. They have book drops. And Moon isn't capable of processing the returns while at the return desk, so she's basically stuck staring into space for two hours. Her thoughts drift. 

She's been meaning to speak to Sophocles about his invisibility cloak. It might work better if he designs it as a bodysuit instead. She's pretty sure she's seen a movie about that. She's also considering animals or mythical creatures that could turn invisible. Maybe if Sophocles uses some of their fur in his cloak-Moon shakes her head. Images of finding an animal and skinning it alive jump into her head. If they did use items from magical creatures, Moon would like to make sure they were ethically sourced. Her thoughts come to a halt as she sees Gladion stalk into the library.

For a moment she doesn't think that it's him. What would Gladion be doing in the library? Seeing him in the library is as weird as seeing a teacher outside of school? For a moment Moon wonders whether Gladion is here to see her, but dismisses the thought. Gladion doesn't know she works here. He looks around with a helpless glare on his face. Moon hesitates for a moment before walking up to him. “Hi, Gladion,” she says.

Gladion turns. “Moon. What are you doing here?”

“I work here. What are you doing here?” 

Gladion fixes her with a withering stare. “Why do people usually come to libraries?” Moon flushes. Of course Gladion came to the library to get books. She laughs sheepishly. “Sorry, of course you're here to get books. Do they have libraries at the Seelie Court? Is it not to your liking? Do you need help finding a book? ”

“I don't need your help,” Gladion snaps, and stalks off. Moon rolls her eyes and returns to the desk. She entertains herself by imagining what sort of book Gladion wants. She thinks up mundane titles and titles that are really out there. She still wonders if the Seelie Court has a library. What sort of books would be in a faerie library? Moon wonders. Gladion returns about half an hour later. He glares at her. Moon tries to keep a calm expression. She knows Gladion can't do anything because of the treaty and there are witnesses, but she can't help looking away. “Are you okay?” she asks. She almost asks “Can I help you?” but figures asking that to a faerie is just asking for trouble.

Gladion doesn't answer for a minute. Moon wonders what would have him so angry at a library. The only thing that upsets her at the library is when people don't shelve books correctly. She scowls as she remembers all the times the library website had said a book was available and she'd spent a long time searching for it because someone didn't put it back on the correct shelf. She isn't sure if Gladion is the type to get angry about something like that. “Did you need help finding a book?” Moon prompts. “If you are, I can help you. Or one of my coworkers can.”

“I don't need any more of your help,” Gladion bites out. Moon sighs. She wonders if it's worth it to point out that he's the one who has approached her. Is she supposed to sit here in awkward silence while Gladion glares at her? There isn't anyone waiting, so it's not like Moon can tell him he's holding up the line. Moon considers calling someone, but Gladion isn't doing anything wrong. After a moment Moon figures that Gladion has better things to do than glare at her and she has better things to do than be glared at. She speaks, trying to keep her voice as firm as possible. “Look, if you don't need my help that's fine. But is there any reason you're here glaring at me?” 

Gladion's eyes widen. For a moment he doesn't say anything. Moon feels a bid bad for snapping at him. She tries to think of something to say, but can't. When Gladion speaks, it sounds like it's a struggle for him to get the words out. “The plants you used when you cured Hau. I need to know them. I need to know what they look like.” 

Moon hopes the shock doesn't register on her face. She tells him the names of the plants. “Do you want to borrow some?” she asks. She doesn't jump as the word no explodes out of Gladion's mouth. Moon figures it would be too cliché to say something about being quiet in the library. 

“I just need to know what it looks like,” Gladion tells Moon. 

“So you need books about plants?” Moon asks. At Gladion's nod, she tells him what section they'll be in and how to get there. Before Gladion moves off she asks, “Are you sure you don't want to borrow plants from me?” Gladion doesn't answer, but Moon doesn't expect him too. She remembers him asking about how the plants she'd used should work against any faerie curse and wonders if he's looking to break a curse. She almost calls out to him, but stops herself. She can tell Gladion later.

When her shift at the return desk ends, Gladion hasn't reappeared. Moon wonders if he has a library card. It doesn't matter, she decides. He can just read the books. He doesn't have to check them out. She debates telling Gladion where the books on curses are. He's made it clear that he doesn't want or need her help. It isn't her business whether Gladion is trying to end a curse. But it's better for him to have all the information he needs, Moon argues with herself. But you don't know the information he has. He might know more about curses than you. Moon accepts that logic. She tries to push aside the guilt of not telling Gladion about where the books on curses are by telling herself that he would reject her help. Another thought occurs to her. She'd used plants from her own stores, but what if they couldn't be found in Alola? She should mention this to Gladion. But maybe Gladion has other ways of getting the plants. Moon hurries to find Gladion.

She finds him on the fourth floor. A pile of books lay on a table before him. “Gladion.” Moon speaks quietly. 

Gladion scowls when he sees her. “Why are you bothering me?” 

Moon pushes aside the pang of hurt. It's not like she doesn't get irritated when people interrupt her reading. Her mind goes blank as she tries to remember why she'd sought out Gladion. After a moment, it comes back to her. “I just wanted to make sure you had the plants you needed. I'm not sure if they grow in Alola. I had plants of my own to use. Do you have ways of getting the plants? Maybe substitutions or something if you don't?” 

“I'll find the plants.” Gladion turns away and Moon recognizes the dismissal. She leaves.

*  
When Gladion comes to the library again, it's two weeks later. Moon is being trained on the circulation desk. Illima is with her to supervise. He's going over how to process fines when Gladion enters. He's trembling. Moon feels a jolt of alarm and worries that he's hurt, but she sees the expression on his face. Her stomach drops as she sees him heading towards her. Gladion slams his hands down on the desk. “It didn't work!” he barks. 

Moon can't get words to form. Luckily, Illima steps in. He instructs Gladion to calm down. “What didn't work?” he asks.

He gestures to Moon. “The plants! They didn't work!” Moon takes a deep breath and tries to think of what to say. “What do you mean the plants didn't work?”

Gladion makes a frustrated gesture. “I mean the plants didn't work! The curse-” he cuts himself off. 

Illima speaks up. “Sir, this is a library. We don't specialize in ending curses.” Moon touches Illima's arm. “It's okay. I know him I'll talk to him.”

Illima gives her a concerned look. “Are you sure?” 

Moon nods. She leads Gladion outside. “So the plants didn't work?” Moon asks. “Are you trying to end a faerie curse? Did you use the salt and the iron? Do you want to borrow my notes from the curse breaking?”

“It's not your concern what I'm trying to do. Just tell me why the plants aren't working?!” 

Moon refrains from sighing. She counts to three and speaks. “Okay, you can't tell me what you're trying to do. What were the plants like? Were they fresh? Dry? That could affect things.” 

“I-” Gladion looks away. Then he turns to Moon. “But I did the other things. Why isn't the curse broken?”

Moon isn't sure if Gladion expects an answer. “I told you one successful case study wasn't enough to form solid conclusions. It might have something to do with the curses and who was cursed. Or the type of curse. Some curses might be easier to break than others.”

Gladion hunches over with his fists clenched. Moon goes to rest a hand on his shoulder and remembers his reaction the last time she tried to do that. She lets her hand fall. “So the first attempt at curse breaking didn't work out. The first attempts at breaking Hau's curse didn't work either. It's not like people find the cures to diseases or succeed on their projects on the first try.”

“I know that. It's just-they're-” He breaks off. Moon doesn't know the right words to comfort Gladion. She doesn't know if he'll accept her comfort. But she decides to try. “It must suck to see someone you care about suffering. But I'm sure you'll figure out a way to break the curse. If you ever need any help-” Gladion moves away violently. “I told you, I don't need help.” Moon holds up her hands in surrender. She has to be careful about offering help. “I'm just talking out loud,” she tells Gladion, and he gives her a look like he either doesn't care what she does or that he wishes she wouldn't talk. She can't tell.

“I'm just talking out loud,” she says again. “To myself. Not to you. People talk to themselves sometimes.”

“I thought humans frowned upon talking to themselves,” Gladion says. 

Moon waves a hand. “I think it depends on what the person is saying. And honestly, I think everyone talks to themselves. Or maybe it's just talking out loud. But anyway, I'm just talking out loud. Not to you. You just happen to be within earshot.”

“Unfortunately,” Gladion mutters. Moon ignores that. She talks out loud about going to find books on curses and where they are. After she says that, she heads back inside, hoping she won't be in too much trouble for leaving her post. “Everything okay?” Illima asks.

“Yeah, everything's okay. He's just frustrated that something he's working on isn't progressing as fast as he would like.”

“Are you sure? He seemed pretty upset.” 

“I'm sure. This can't be the worst dissatisfied customer you've seen. Do you see a lot of dissatisfied library patrons?” She figures that there can't be many dissatisfied library patrons. The materials are free, so it's not like they would have wasted their money. Illima laughs and proceeds to tell her all about the arguments they've had with the patrons. At the end Moon is just shaking her head. She can't believe the stupidity of people.

*  
Moon doesn't see Gladion for a few weeks after that. Her life settles into a peaceful lull. She spends her time exploring Alola. She's collected many different plants and spends her free time making salves, potions, and teas. She thinks about what other plants could be used to end curses. She spends time with Sophocles testing these theories. He's still having trouble with the invisibility cloak, and he says another project helps him think. Moon thinks about Gladion and wonders how his curse breaking efforts are coming along. She considers going to the Seelie Court to ask, but she doubts Gladion would be happy to see her. 

Right now she's exploring a trail close to the beach. The sun is pleasantly warm. Moon is going over the uses of sea water in spells. Sea water seems like it would be useful. Later she'll go to the beach and collect the sea water. Her thoughts drift to sea salt. She knows salt is excellent as a method of protection and ending curses, but does it matter what kind of salt? Moon has always used regular household salt, but would sea salt have a greater or less effect? This will be something worth exploring. Her thoughts are interrupted as she trips and goes flying. She lands hard on her hands and knees. Embarrassment fills her and Moon is grateful no one is around to witness her fall. She gets to her feet, figuring she tripped over a rock or a root, but when she turns she freezes.

Someone is lying motionless on the ground. Moon's heart thuds and her first thought is that the person is dead. She looks around wildly, expecting the person's murderers to suddenly appear and kill her as well. Get a grip, she tells herself firmly. Moon reaches out cautiously and turns the body over. Her heart nearly stops when she recognizes Gladion's face. This doesn't change anything, Moon tells herself, and checks to see if Gladion is alive. She goes limp with relief when she sees that he's breathing. Her hands are wet and sticky. He's bleeding. Moon chants in her head over and over to keep calm. “Gladion,” she cries. “Gladion, can you hear me?” 

He groans. “Moon?”

“Yes! Yes, it's me! Are you okay?” Moon doesn't have time to think about how stupid it is that she asked someone who was bleeding if he was okay. “Do you need help? Do you need me to get Lusamine?”

“No!” Moon is sure that if Gladion had the strength, he would have shouted. “Not-not Lusamine.” 

Moon finds the source of the blood and presses her hands to it, trying to stop the bleeding. “Doesn't she have healing powers? Can't she help you?”

“No Lusamine!” Moon stops arguing and presses harder against the wound. She wishes desperately that she had magic, that she could cast a spell and have everything be okay, but she doesn't. Moon has to use what she knows. She knows she has to stop the bleeding. She doesn't have any of her supplies with her. Of all the times to not have her supplies, Moon thinks bitterly. But she didn't think anything would happen today. I'm never leaving my house without a medical bag again, Moon promises herself. 

“Do you need help getting to the Seelie Court? I can help you there,” Moon offers.

“No Seelie Court.” Moon can barely make out the words before Gladion passes out. Moon freezes for a minute. Then she pulls herself together. She continues applying pressure to the wound until the bleeding stops. Gladion is still unconscious. Moon keeps calling out to him, but he doesn't stir. But the bleeding has stopped and he's still breathing and his heart is still beating, so Moon is going to count that as a win. When the bleeding stops, Moon makes makeshift bandages using Gladion's shirt. Despite her attempts to rouse him, he's still unconscious. Moon thinks it over for a minute. Her house isn't that far away. Surely she can get Gladion to her house and treat him there.

It turns out that it's harder to get Gladion to her house than she thinks. Gladion isn't that much taller than her, but he's heavier. He's also unconscious and dead weight turns out to be a real pain to drag. Moon's shoulders and back are screaming at her. Moon reminds herself of a story she read where a preteen girl dragged her (temporarily) blind and deaf sister up mountains all the while being pursued by a killer. If she can do it, so can I, Moon tells herself. It doesn't matter that the story is fiction. Moon draws strength from it. When she gets to her house, she deposits Gladion on the couch and flops down on the floor. After counting to twenty, she gets up and goes to her supplies. Let's see, she has potions to help with blood loss. She also has the ingredients necessary to make a salve to help against infection. 

Moon removes what remains of Gladion's shirt and undresses the wound so she can treat it properly. Oddly enough, the familiar motions of treating wounds soothes her. She catches her breath as she sees that his torso is littered with scars. Helplessness fills her. Do what you can, Moon tells herself. Or at least as much as Gladion will let you do. She gives Gladion the potion to help with blood loss and goes to prepare the salve to help with infections. 

Gladion wakes up with a groan as Moon puts the finishing touches on the salve. He tries to sit up as Moon goes over to him. “You should probably take it easy. That wound looked nasty. Or do faeries heal faster than humans?” 

A confused expression crosses his face. “How did I get here? Where am I?” 

“Oh, you're in my house. I carried you here.”

Gladion rakes his eyes across Moon's body and lets out a skeptical huff. “You carried me here?” Moon nods and holds out the salve. “I made this salve. It's pretty good for infections.” Gladion stares at her for a moment and then an angry expression crosses his face. “What do you want?” he demands. Moon takes a moment to register the words. “What do you mean?” she asks.

Gladion struggles to his feet. He gestures wildly. “I mean, why did you help me? You must want something. Did you think it would be nice having a faerie in your debt?” Moon thinks over what Gladion is asking. When she understands what he's asking, indignation shoots through her. “Are you saying that I helped you just so I could get a reward?” At Gladion's nod, Moon feels her temper rise even more. “Don't be ridiculous!” she snaps.

“Why else would you have saved me? Don't tell me it's because of altruistic reasons.”  
Moon's shoulders and back ache. She rubs her neck and tries to think of what to say to Gladion. “I wasn't thinking of getting a reward,” she insists. “Honest. Do you really think my first thought after seeing you bleeding was, “Alright, if I save the faerie I can get a reward?” Actually, don't answer that. I helped you because you needed help and I don't think I'm the type of person to just leave someone who needs help.” 

Gladion doesn't look like he believes her. Moon doesn't know what to say to convince him. She sighs. “Look, I helped you because you needed help, not because I wanted a reward. I wasn't going to just leave you there. And you might believe that I did it because I wanted a reward, but that's not true. Would you let me use this salve on you? I don't think it'll create a new debt or anything. You don't have to pay me back.” 

“A faerie always pays their debts,” Gladion tells her seriously. Moon nods. So now that means she has a faerie in her debt. Possibilities rush through her head. She can ask for so many things-riches, power, food. But she sees how stiffly Gladion is sitting and thinks about how it would feel to be in someone's debt and not knowing what they'd want you to do. Moon likes to think that she wouldn't ask for anything horrible, but other people might. “So, does this mean I get to ask you for shit or do you have to save my life?” 

“I knew you wanted something from me!” 

“I didn't-” Moon decides arguing isn't worth it and changes the subject. “What were you doing out there when I found you?”

“It's not your concern.” 

Moon didn't expect another response. She asks another question. “Were you attacked? I know, I know, not my business. But if you were attacked, I'd like to know if there are creatures out here that might attack my home. Or were you taking care of them? Is that your job? Do you take care of situations with the public being none the wiser?” 

Moon isn't expecting an answer, so she's surprised when Gladion replies. “I take care of situations for Queen Lusamine. You don't have to worry. Your home is perfectly safe. There aren't any monsters around.” 

Moon breathes a sigh of relief that she won't be attacked any time soon. “So how did you get injured? And why didn't you want Queen Lusamine to know? Are you going to be in trouble with her?” Moon isn't surprised when Gladion doesn't answer. She turns to more practical matters. “I bandaged your wound and gave you a potion to help with blood loss. I also made a salve to help with infection. I'd really like it if you used it. I also used your shirt to make bandages so I don't think it'll be much use as a shirt. Sorry. You're welcome to borrow one of my brother's shirts. I borrowed them all the time so I'm sure I have some. What are you going to do now? Are you going to stay the night, go sleep outside, head back to the Seelie Court?” 

Gladion looks at Moon, a glimmer of interest in his eyes. “You have a brother?” His voice is softer.

“Yeah.”

“Are you close?”  
“Yeah. Unfortunately he's busy with work so I don't get to see him much. He usually writes, but he hasn't in a while. He gets busy. I think that's a sign of a close relationship, you know? That you aren't in contact for a while, but then you meet again and can pick up where you left off. That you know that even if that person hasn't contacted you for a while, they still care about you and they just might not be able to contact you right now?”

A tiny smile lights Gladion's face. “Yes.” 

“Do you have siblings?” Moon asks. Immediately Gladion's face closes off. His mouth forms a thin line. Moon feels like a door has just been slammed in her face. “I'm sorry. Let me get you a shirt. Do you want anything to eat?” 

Gladion declines the offers, muttering something about not wanting to be more in Moon's debt. Moon sighs, but insists on giving Gladion the salve, arguing that it'll help with infections and knowing Gladion's luck she'll run into him when he's sick from infection and she'll help him because she's not an asshole who will leave someone who needs help and then he'll be in her debt again. Gladion grumbles, but accepts the salve. He declines the offer to spend the night, and ignores Moon when she asks if he has a safe place to go. Moon clenches her fists. She feels like she should be doing more to help, but Gladion won't allow it. She hates the feeling of helplessness. Do what you can, she instructs herself.

When Gladion gets ready to depart, Moon babbles instructions about the salve and signs of infection to watch out for. “Are you sure you don't want to stay? I have room. Are you sure you'll be okay to travel?”

“I've dealt with worse. Don't worry about me.” Moon frowns. That doesn't reassure her. She almost asks what else Gladion has dealt with, but holds her tongue. But then her conscience gets the better than her. “So I know I'm probably the last person you'd want to talk to, but if you ever want to talk about stuff, you can talk to me.”

“Why would I want to talk to you?” 

Moon really shouldn't have expected anything different. She rolls her eyes and smiles. “I don't know. Maybe if things are tough and you get desperate you'll want to talk. I don't know why you'd want to talk to me. But I'm telling you I'm an option if you ever want to tell me how you got injured or you just want to talk about mundane stuff.”

Gladion doesn't answer. He turns to leave. “Be careful out there,” Moon says. “You don't want to be in my debt again, do you?” She means it as a joke, but she sees the expression on Gladion's face. Guilt fills her. She tries to think of the most mundane request. “So for my debt you can just get me a cup of coffee or something.”

That's the wrong thing to say. Gladion glares at her. “Are you trying to insult me?” he snaps.

“What? No!”

“You must be. How else would you explain such a ridiculous request?”

“I wasn't-”  
Gladion paces. “You bandaged my wounds, carried me to your home, and gave me salve to prevent infections. Do you think merely getting a cup of coffee is equal repayment?” 

“Well, I -” Moon cuts herself off. She hadn't realized a simple request might have come off as insulting. 

“Look, I don't know what to ask for. I don't know how this works. I don't know what's in your power to grant or how the wishes will be granted. I didn't realize that being in debt would mean I'd have to think of a wish equal to the task I did or whatever. I wasn't trying to insult you. I just didn't want you to go to to much trouble to pay me back. Like I told you, I wasn't doing it to get a reward.” 

There's a moment of silence. Moon holds her breath. After a moment, Gladion nods and Moon sags in relief. “So I should just assume you have incredibly low standards?” Gladion asks. There's no expresson on his face, so Moon isn't sure if he's joking. She smiles anyway. “Yeah, I guess I have low standards when it comes to certain things. So you should be sure that my asking you for coffee was because I have low standards for receiving gifts, and not me insulting your abilities to repay the debt.”

Gladion strides off. He calls over his shoulder, “I'll repay the debt. But this will be the last time I'll need your help.”


	5. Chapter 5

It's not that Moon forgets about Gladion, but she has other things on her mind such as work. She supposes it might be a bit weird to forget that a faerie owes her a debt, and she supposes if this had been her first time encountering the supernatural it would have been more difficult to forget. But she's encountered the supernatural before and while she wouldn't go so far as to say she's seen everything she- she what? Moon thinks. She isn't sure what she means. She's preparing a tincture before she has to leave for work. The familiar movements calm her and her mind begins to wander.

It's been a couple of weeks since she's seen Gladion. The first day after he'd left she was sure that he'd come to ask her what her favor would be. But he didn't. Moon had kept a lookout for him. She isn't sure whether to feel relieved or disappointed when he doesn't show. It would be completely idiotic for her to assume he'd just stop by to ask whether or not she decided on a wish. He has a life. She can understand that. She has work at the library and her side job selling potions. Maybe she's supposed to make the first move. Maybe she should just go to the Seelie Court and ask to see Gladion.

But the thought of doing that makes her feel like a mouse being watched by a cat. Technically, the faeries can't do anything to her because of the treaty, but there might be loopholes. She's read stories about faeries being good at finding loopholes. Moon thinks that may be presumptuous and maybe a bit racist to think that's what will happen. But she really doesn't want to enter the Seelie Court unless she has to. She remembers how Lusamine treated Gladion the last time and shudders. She isn't sure if it's from anger or revulsion.

Another thought occurs to Moon as she finishes her tincture. If Gladion really is leaving the ball in her court, how is she supposed to get in contact with him? Moon doubts he has a phone. Is she supposed to go to the Seelie Court and ask for Gladion? What if they want to know why she wants to see him? Moon doesn't think that Gladion would want anyone to know that she had saved him. Moon remembers how Lusamine had humiliated him in front of the entire court and she doubts it would be good for his reputation for the Court to find out that he was saved by a human. For all she knows Lusamine could decide that means he isn't worthy of serving her and dismiss him.

Moon goes to get her bike to ride to work. She finally remembered to buy one. She can't remember why she kept putting it off. As she rides, she thinks more about the situation with Gladion. For all she knows, she might be overthinking it. Maybe the Court finding out that she saved him wouldn't be a big deal. In all honesty, it wasn't a very glamorous saving. She only bandaged him up. Anyone could have done that. It's not like she saw him being attacked by a group of ten people and singlehandedly fought them off. But Moon gets the impression that Gladion wouldn't want to look vulnerable. 

She could just lie about why she wants to see Gladion, Moon thinks as she pedals. She thinks over potential lies but all she can think of is saying that she and Gladion are having a secret affair. Or maybe no one would really care why she needs to see Gladion. She might be overthinking things. Moon hopes that's the case. She'd rather overthink things and have it turn out she didn't need to worry instead of not taking something seriously and being screwed because of it. Gladion might have forgotten, Moon thinks. He might be doing important faerie business and forgot about repaying the debt. But Moon had gotten the impression that Gladion wouldn't have wanted the debt to go unpaid. Relief and disappointment war within her. She still doesn't know what she wants and she isn't looking forward to telling Gladion that. Still, this is a rare opportunity and Moon feels like she's wasting it.

Moon parks her bike and heads in. She thinks about going to see Sophocles and asking how his inventions are going, but she's not really in the mood for company right now. She'll stop by later during her lunch break. Moon tries to read until it's time for her shift to start, but she can't concentrate. She doesn't know why she keeps thinking about what favor she should ask from Gladion. I should probably find out what exactly is within his power to grant, if there's any fine print, and what he considers worthy repayment, she thinks. A voice in her head tells her that this is just a stalling technique. Moon rolls her eyes and tells herself that this isn't stalling-this is just basic sense. She's seen enough shows and read enough books where people were screwed over by deals with supernatural creatures not to examine all her options.

*  
When Gladion comes into the library, Moon wonders if she has magic after all. Maybe she can summon people with her thoughts. But she hadn't been thinking about Gladion at the moment. She'd been thinking about trying the cafe close to the library. She usually brings her lunch because she's too cheap to spend money, but she'd been too lazy to pack a sandwich today. Or maybe she's psychic. Maybe she can make lucky guesses now. She might be able to predict winning lottery numbers. That might be an idea, she thinks. She can ask to be rich. Gladion looks around for a moment. Moon opens her mouth to call out, but stops herself. She knows now that libraries aren't always the silent places she sees on television, but it still seems wrong to shout out in a library. Instead Moon catches his eye and waves a hand.

Moon studies his expression as he walks. Gladion doesn't look happy. Is he angry at her? Was she supposed to get in contact with him? How will he react when he finds out that she hasn't thought about a favor at all? Kukui is on duty with her. He smiles cheerfully at Gladion. “Can I help you?” Gladion barely spares him a glance. “I need to speak with Moon.”

“I haven't thought about what I want as yet,” Moon blurts out. She feels like an idiot. Explanations bubble to her lips, but she bites her tongue and says nothing. 

“It's been weeks!” Gladion's voice rises. “How can you not have thought of a favor by now?” Moon isn't sure if that's a rhetorical question or not, but it doesn't matter because Gladion gives her no time to answer. He tugs at his hair and paces. He's still talking. “Do you just enjoy having me in your power? Is that it?” Moon can't find the words to respond. She shakes her head. Why didn't she think of something sooner? She had no idea that Gladion would be so upset. She tries to say something, to apologize, to say whatever favor comes to mind, but she can't talk. A warm hand on her shoulder brings her back to herself. Kukui is staring at Gladion. His voice is polite but firm as he tells Gladion that he'll need to calm down or leave. For a moment, Gladion freezes. Then he seems to regain his senses. 

“My apologies.” His voice sounds sincere. “I need to speak to Moon.”

Kukui's voice is suspicious. “What about?”

Gladion's voice becomes sharp. “A private matter.” Moon thinks it sounds like she's either doing sexual favors or dealing drugs and feels the sudden urge to laugh. She manages to stifle it. “Nothing illegal,” she assures Kukui. 

“Nothing illegal,” Gladion assures him. Moon isn't sure, but she thinks she sees a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. 

“If it's nothing illegal, why do you need to speak to her in private?” Gladion grinds his teeth and looks away. Moon tries to think of something to say, but she can't. 

“Some people don't like to broadcast their business,” Gladion says eventually, and even that sounds like a huge admission from him. He clenches his fists like just saying that causes him pain. 

Moon hurries to say something. “Totally understandable. Some people are just private people.” She had more words she wanted to say, but they suddenly fade. Moon turns to Kukui. “It's fine. Gladion won't hurt me.”

Gladion nods solemnly. “I give you my word I won't harm her.” Moon is expecting a flash of magic or a feeling of something heavy or settling given how gravely Gladion says the words, but nothing happens. Kukui is still eyeing Gladion warily. 

Moon tries to defuse the situation. “Come on, we've put ourselves in riskier situations for science. Where's your sense of adventure? What about the risk/ reward ratio?” A manic grin stretches across Moon's face and her voice gets higher. She really hopes she's selling this. 

Kukui remains silent for a moment. “You're sure he can be trusted?” 

Gladion stiffens. “I gave my word,” he snarls. “Unlike humans, my word actually means something.” Moon gives Kukui a strained smile. “I'm just going to take my lunch break,” she says. “I'll be right at that cafe down the street.” Kukui nods. Moon grabs her stuff. She tries to walk out of the library normally and not look like she's running away or striding off angrily. Gladion keeps pace with her. “Where are you going?” 

“I just said I was taking my lunch break, didn't I?” Moon tries to keep the annoyance out of her voice. 

Surprise flashes across Gladion's face. “You were telling the truth?” he asks. Moon pauses for a moment. She isn't overly hungry, but lunch break was the only excuse that came to mind. Besides, dealing with Gladion might prove to be a pain, and food made everything better. Or at least more bearable. 

“Why did you think I wasn't?” Moon asks. 

“You're a human. Humans can lie.” Gladion's voice is matter of fact. He sounds like a little kid stating something completely ridiculous as absolute fact. It's hilarious and oddly endearing and Moon finds herself wanting to smile. “So you think that just because humans can lie we do it all the time just for so?” Before Gladion can answer Moon continues, “You're right. As a human I spend all my time lying. I wake up every morning thinking, “I'm going to find someone and lie to them right now. And not just little white lies either. Like lie lies.”

“Like you're a princess?” Gladion asks dryly. “Or that you have celebrity parents?” Moon feels a pang at the mention of her parents, but pushes it aside. “I try to tell at least three people that I have celebrity parents or I have important connections before noon.” Moon thinks she can see Gladion's lips tilt up. She takes it as a good sign. She hesitates to bring up what happened, but she doesn't want Gladion thinking he can just show up to work and get angry if she hasn't decided what favor she wants. Moon takes a deep breath. 

“Look, you can't just show up at work and bug me about whether or not I made a decision. And you can't lose your temper and make a scene. People get in trouble for that sort of thing.”

Gladion's eyes widen. He looks away. “It wasn't my intention to cause you trouble.”

“I know it wasn't.” 

Gladion doesn't say anything for a few moments. They walk in silence to the cafe. As Moon goes to push open the door, Gladion speaks. “Will you be terminated?” Moon pauses for a moment, her hand still on the door. Gladion tugs her away and she sees that she'd been blocking a couple from going in. “What?” Moon asks. 

“Your job?” Gladion repeats. His voice is impatient, but there's the undercurrent of something that Moon can't put her finger on, like a spice she can't identify in a dish. “Will you be terminated?” 

“Oh!” Moon exclaims as what Gladion is asking dawns on her. Is he worried about her getting fired? “I don't think so,” she replies. “Kukui's reasonable. I don't think he'll fire me for having a grumpy faerie yelling a bit. And usually workplaces have a three strikes and you're out policy.” Moon isn't totally sure about that. This is her first job, but she's pretty sure people in jobs get warnings before they get fired. 

Gladion's posture relaxes. Moon remembers how Gladion had nearly gotten fired (or whatever the faerie equivalent is ) from the Seelie Court because of a misunderstanding. She remembers how Lusamine had lorded the threat over Gladion and his desperation and wants to reach out to Gladion. She keeps her hands to herself. Moon doesn't think that Gladion will welcome her touch and she isn't sure if Gladion even is remembering what happened with Lusamine. 

“I'm relieved to hear that. I would hate to be the reason you no longer had employment.” Moon feels a rush of warmth and goes to say something, but before she can, Gladion continues. “If I had been responsible for you losing your job, I'd owe you another favor. I don't need the hassle.” 

Moon rolls her eyes. “You were so close to me thinking you were a decent sort,” she tells Gladion. “So close and then you had to ruin it.”

Gladion's gaze is unrepentant. “I'm a faerie. I can't lie.” 

Moon gestures. “Okay. So you can't lie. So you can't up and say, “Look, there's a flying purple cow.” 

Gladion interrupts her. “Under what circumstances would anyone ever say that and why would anyone with a functioning brain cell believe them?”

Moon waves away his question although it is a valid one. But that's not the issue. “The point is,” she says, talking louder and faster in case Gladion tries to interrupt, “The point is, you might not be able to tell an outright lie lie, but you can be deceitful. Like you can leave out important information. You can see that people are drawing an incorrect conclusion and not correct them.” 

“So tell me, is a lie lie different from a regular lie?” Gladion's face is expressionless, but Moon is pretty sure she can see the glint of mischief in his eyes. She refrains from flipping him off. 

She was right. She totally needs food to be able to deal with Gladion. A few minutes later, she's sitting outside the cafe, holding a roast beef sub. “Do you want any?” she offers. She realizes her mistake a split second after she says it. Gladion snarls. “Do you think I need to be in your debt any more? Do you find it amusing that I spend my nights waiting and dreading what you'll have me do?”

Moon holds up her hands in surrender. “I didn't mean it like that! I was just trying to be nice. I go out with people or my brother and we got out to eat and we're all like, “you want some of this? It means nothing.”

Gladion is still glaring and his posture is still tense. “Really,” Moon tells him. “This isn't the Seelie Court. People offer things to be polite or nice, not to curry favor. Does it sound weird when I say something like curry favor?” 

“Yes.” The blunt answer melts the tension. Moon takes a bite of her sandwich. It's delicious. “I honestly wasn't trying cause offense and I'm sorry I've made you worry about what I would ask you to do. You can tell me when you don't want to do something.”

“I owe you a debt.” The way Gladion pronounces these words makes Moon think of an executioner's ax. “I have to repay it.” 

“I get that. But I'm allowing you to negotiate. If there's something that you find absolutely reprehensible, tell me and I won't ask you to do it.”

“I don't believe you.”

“It's the truth.”

“Humans lie.” Moon wonders about Gladion's life in the Seelie Court, if he has to do things that would keep him awake at night because Lusamine commanded it. She wants to ask, but Moon doesn't think it's her place. “Look, I haven't made a decision on what I want.”

“Are you trying to tell me your life is so perfect you don't have anything you want?”

“Of course not. But it's just- it's just overwhelming. People dream about this sort of stuff. I just want to make the right decision. I don't want to regret it. I mean, what if I wish for one thing and it turns out that it's not what I really want? Or I wish for something and I get it but later on it turns out I should have wished for this instead and I wasted my wish?”

Gladion studies Moon. “You humans complicate things too much. Decisions are decisions. You make them and you deal with what comes next.”

Before Moon can say anything, Gladion continues talking. “Are you telling me you've never made a decision you've regretted before?”

“I have,” Moon replies.

“And you live with what happens,” Gladion tells her. “That's all life is.”

“I don't think most people get opportunities like this. I wouldn't want to waste it.”

Gladion raises an eyebrow. “Weren't you going to waste it on a cup of coffee?” he asks. Moon rolls her eyes. “That was because you were so upset at being in my debt! I was trying to take the pressure off! ” she protests.  
“And I don't exactly know how your powers work. And you say that whatever favor I ask has to be equivalent to whatever service I performed for you and I'm not sure if your standards and my standards match that. And what if I ask you for a certain sum of money and I get the money but it's because my brother died on the job and I got a settlement because of that?” 

“If you asked for money, simply giving you glamoured leaves would be more efficient and less time consuming.”

There's something comforting about Gladion's blunt practicality. A thought occurs to Moon. “Not repaying the debt doesn't hurt you, right? I mean, I've seen shows where magical creatures need to grant wishes or else they'll explode.”

Gladion levels an unimpressed glare at Moon. It's adorable, but there's no way Moon can let Gladion see she thinks that, so she takes another bite of her sandwich. “Also, is there a particular reason you showed up to my job to ask me about my decision? I mean, you know where I live.” Then Moon thinks it over. “Actually, never mind. It's good you decided to do this in public, in broad daylight, in view of people instead of at my house where I live alone. What, would you have just waited in the shadows and emerged all dramatic when I returned home?” 

“How should I contact you, then?” Gladion asks.

“How do faeries contact each other? Can you get a message to me? Or you can come to my house. You can't bug me at my job because I have to work and you might get side eyed now. Maybe. But don't come to my house when it's nighttime. And if you do, knock on the door like a civilized person. I didn't want to go the Seelie Court because...”

She trails off. It might be a weakness admitting that she was scared. Gladion nods. “A wise decision.” 

“We can meet again tomorrow. I'll think over a few things. I promise, I'm not trying to give you the runaround and I know human promises don't mean much but-” 

Gladion raises an eyebrow. “But what?”

“I just ran out of steam. I mean, I could tell you something and you'd probably be like, “humans lie,” which is true and I could be like, “I'm not lying about this,” which is also true and I don't have the words to get you to believe me.” 

Moon finishes her sandwich and they get ready to head back the library. Gladion hands her a crystal. “If you need to urgently reach me, smash this and say my name. I'll be able to come to you.” Moon nods and pockets it. When they arrive at the library, Gladion makes a point of walking up to Kukui. “See, she's unharmed. I kept my word.” His tone is argumentative. 

“Yes, everything's fine. I'll see you later, Gladion,” Moon says. Gladion snorts and turns to go. 

Kukui turns to Moon. “You okay?” he asks. “What did he want?”

“Just to talk to me about stuff. And I know I'm being vague but I promise it's nothing illegal or horrible. I just helped Gladion out with a situation that was definitely not illegal and he's a pretty private person so I'm not telling you what happened but it was nothing bad.”  
She really needs to work on better speeches, Moon thinks. 

“You're sure you're not getting mixed up in anything?” Kukui asks.

Moon shakes her head.

“Good. The only dangerous situations you should place yourself in are for the sake of science.”

*  
Later on that evening, Illima approaches Moon. “So I heard the shouting boy showed up again.” Moon takes a moment longer than she should have to figure out who Illima is talking about, but when she does, she lets out a snort of laughter. “I am totally calling Gladion that the next time I see him,” she says. Then she notices the look on Illima's face. “Look, I know Gladion hasn't made the best impression, but he's not a bad person. Just a bit passionate. Or maybe bad at keeping his temper. Or both.”

Illima doesn't say anything. “Really, I think you guys are overreacting a bit. So he raised his voice a bit. Is that really the weirdest thing you've seen? I'm pretty sure there have been freakier patrons.”

“You're right. It's been a while since we've had really weird patrons. We might have jumped the gun a bit. You're sure you aren't mixed up in anything? Because a guy coming in and asking about favors and you refusing to say what's going on sounds pretty suspicious.”

“Like I said, I'm respecting Gladion's right to privacy.”

Illima nods slowly. “And how exactly do you know Gladion?” he asks. 

“We were thrown together by strange circumstances.” That probably wasn't a good answer, but that was all Moon feels like giving. 

*  
Moon half expects to see Gladion lurking in the shadows when she gets home and is a little surprised to find that he isn't. He probably has better things to do than lurk in the shadows for dramatic effect. Moon doesn't think people actually do stuff like that in real life. It would be way too much effort. She feels herself slumping as she enters her home. Her eyes fall on her plants and suddenly she's full of energy. That's it! She can ask for plants! There has to be rare plants or ingredients in the Seelie Court. There might be powerful protection charms or potions to bring people back from the dead. See, that was why Moon took her time when deciding what she wanted when faeries owed her favor. She grins and spins around, imagining all the rare materials there might be in the Seelie Court. 

*  
Moon doesn't think she would have been able to sleep. She keeps thinking of the materials faeries have access to and the possibilities. She tells herself that she has to sleep, that she has to work. Then she tells herself she has teas and potions to solve that problem. Then she tells herself that she should fully think this over in the morning when she has a clear head because decisions made in the middle of the night are always going to be stupid decisions. Moon doesn't glance at the clock. Instead she turns away from it and tells herself to go to sleep. She tries to think about what she'll ask Gladion tomorrow. In the back of her mind she feels a twinge of guilt for being excited about this. The only reason she might be getting this opportunity is because Gladion was hurt and owes her. She doesn't want to be the type of person to get things at the cost of others.

Rolling over, Moon heaves a sigh. She can't be fully happy over maybe getting to see magical plants because of the reason it might be possible. And suppose asking for magical plants isn't an equal exchange? How is she supposed to know what an equal exchange is? Moon wonders if Gladion will buy the reasoning that since she treated him using plants then he should pay her back using plants. It's like he's replenishing my supply, Moon thinks. It makes sense, but Moon doesn't know if it makes actual sense or the sort of twisted sense that things make late at night. After a minute she decides she might as well write down a list of things she can ask Gladion about. And then he can see if he can fulfill any of the requests. 

Moon rolls out of bed and grabs a piece of paper. She scribbles down magic plants. Then she writes unicorn horns because she's heard they can cure any poison. She frowns. Should she really expect Gladion to be able to find a unicorn? She crosses that out. Instead she writes, a way to eat the food in faerie without being stuck there for all eternity. Then she writes, magic books. Other ideas come to her- protective items, such as talismans or protective cloaks. She might be getting ahead of herself. She's mentioned that she could meet Gladion tomorrow He might take her up on that offer. Then they could see where to go from there.

*  
Moon isn't sure what wakes her. She yawns and turns to her clock to see if she has to get up or if she can sleep a little longer. As she squints at the clock, she hears a bang. Her heart begins to thud. Someone has broken in. Her mind flashes back to the shows she's watched where intruders have broken into homes and killed the homeowners. Her first impulse is to hide under her bed. But she can't move. Get a hold of yourself, Moon orders. She can hear more banging. I have to do something. But what if the intruder hears her? Maybe they won't hear her because of all the banging? What's all the banging? Moon doesn't have anything worth stealing. How long does it take to ransack a place? Maybe she can just stay still.

Or maybe she shouldn't. Maybe she shouldn't be sitting around. Maybe she should try to escape. I should call the police. The thoughts come to Moon slowly, but she can't make herself move. She holds completely still. She doesn't breathe. I should be doing something, Moon thinks. Isn't there a plan for these situations- run, hide, fight back? She's read about this. But all the things she's supposed to do fly out of her head. I've faced more dangerous situations before, Moon tells herself. I faced a nightmare demon. I went into the Seelie Court. I've faced worse situations with Sun and for science. 

These thoughts galvanize her. This is her home. She will not cower in her own home. As silently as possible, she slides out of bed. The banging has stopped, but Moon can still hear movement. What's going on? As silently as possible, she opens the door to her room and peers out. No one rushes to grab her and a little bit of tension leaves her body. Maybe the intruders have left. Maybe they realized Moon isn't worth robbing. Moon pauses. No. She can hear noises from the kitchen.

Confusion and indignation wash over Moon. It's not like she has real silver or anything of value in her kitchen. Maybe the intruder is eating in her kitchen. She's seen stories about criminals committing a crime and then eating food from the victim's home. The idea that someone might be robbing her and eating her food sends a wave of reckless indignation through her. She can understand being robbed, but the idea of people eating her food- maybe it's the audacity of it. Moon creeps down the hall and presses herself to the wall. She wishes she'd thought to grab a weapon. She can still run, Moon thinks. Steeling herself, Moon peeks into the kitchen. A guy is sitting at the table, eating cereal. “What the hell?” Moon exclaims.

The guy looks up. “Hey, Moon.” He greets her casually. “You really need to go shopping. You have no food in the house.”

Moon glares at her brother. “I thought you were a burglar,” she snaps. Sun puts down his spoon and looks at her in concern. “Didn't the wards work?” he asked. “I had them set so that they'd stop supernatural creatures, but maybe I should have been thinking of mundane threats.” Moon doesn't say anything. She is not about to admit that she'd forgotten her home was warded. Instead she flops down onto a chair. “What are you doing here?” she asks. Her tone is exasperated. 

Sun rolls his eyes. “Eating. Like I said, you need to go shopping. This was all I could find.” Moon is pretty sure she has more food than just cereal. Odds are the food she has would require preparation that Sun doesn't want to deal with. “I suppose I should have just magically known you were coming and prepared a feast for your arrival.”  
Sun smirks. “Now you're getting it. You can still go out and prepare my feast. At once!” he claps his hands. Moon doesn't move. Sun looks at her. 

“I can't help but notice that I'm clapping my hands and you aren't going out to prepare my meals.” Sun claps again. Moon gives that the only response it deserves. She flips him off. She'd thought that when Sun visited she'd be hugging him and telling him all about her new job and what she's been up to and asking him how he's been and they'd be swapping stories of their adventures. She'd forgotten what a pain her brother could be. Maybe his absence made her think of him more fondly than he actually deserves.

“What are you doing here?” Moon asks. “Why didn't you knock? How the hell did you get in?”

“Magic,” Sun answers. Moon lets it go. She studies Sun. He doesn't have any noticeable injuries, but he does look a little paler. She comments on this. “I can't be reckless since you aren't there to patch me up.” Sun laughs. “How's things been with you? You like the new job?”

“Things have been good.” Moon had though she'd have been bursting to tell Sun about how she'd been, about the people she'd met at work and the adventures she'd had, but the idea of talking and explaining what happened and then answering questions exhausts her. “What about you?” she asks. Sun tells her all about his adventures, about how there'd been sick children in a village but a warlock had been draining them to power his spells or something along those lines. He tells her about mysterious drownings and how it had been a kelpie. “ I swear, Moon, this girl Hapu, just walks up to the kelpie and straight up tells him that he isn't going to drown anyone anymore. And the kelpie is laughing and Hapu tells him that she'll make a wager with him. She can stay on his back for a certain amount of time without falling off and he'll stop drowning people.”

“So she managed to stay on?”

“Yeah. The kelpie dove underwater and swam for I don't know how long. I was following along in case she slipped off and I had to save her and it was pretty hard. That kelpie was going fast. But she held on. I have to tell you, her lung capacity must be amazing. So the kelpie finally realizes that Hapu isn't letting go. So he surfaces. And Hapu is gasping for breath, but she still stands up and demands that the kelpie keep his word.”

“Did he?” Moon asks. “What made her so sure he would?”

“You know how it is with certain supernatural creatures,” Sun says. “They can't break their word. It's like murder is fine and part of society and no one bats an eye but the second someone breaks their word it's treated as an act of war.”

“I know. It's like when the thing that ends relationships is lying. It's like couples can work out anything except lying.”

“Dishonesty is the only deal breaker in a relationship. Everything else can be worked out.”  
Moon nods. “So whatever happened with Hapu and the kelpie? What did the kelpie do?” 

“The kelpie isn't drowning anyone anymore, but he's taken to hanging around with Hapu. I think he respects her.”

“Anime rules,” Moon says, nodding. “You beat the crap out of each other and you become best friends. Seriously though, what are you doing here?”

“I came to visit. There haven't been many cases for me to go on.” Moon frowns, feeling a mixture of happiness, worry, and guilty. Less cases means that Sun gets paid less, but it also means that Sun gets to visit. But Moon shouldn't be happy about that. She wishes she can have something good happen to her without it being a result of something bad happening to someone else. 

As Moon gets ready for work, she and Sun what they want to do. Moon wants to introduce him to her friends, especially Mallow and Sophocles. “You can help Sophocles and I with our experiments,” Moon tells Sun, as she makes herself a sandwich. “We usually get Kukui to help, but we could always use more magic users so we can establish a baseline. We need people of different magical strength. By the way, I had stuff to eat. See?” She waves the can of tuna at Sun.

“I wanted real food, not food a broke college student eats,” Sun tells her. Moon doesn't dignify that with a reply. “I'll see you later,” she tells him.

*  
When Gladion shows up at the library, he approaches Moon calmly. Moon smiles. “Hey,” she says. “So I've actually got a few ideas. I'm going on lunch break in maybe about half an hour.”

“Do you have a set lunch break or can you take it whenever you want?” Gladion asks.

“I can take it whenever, but I like to take it at a certain time.”

Gladion hums. “I thought maybe you were trying to stall for more time.”

Moon smiles. “How long do you think I could get away with that with you?” she asks. She didn't actually mean for Gladion to answer the question, but to her surprise he actually answers. 

“Maybe a day or so,” he replies. 

Moon raises her eyebrows in mock astonishment. “An entire day? I would have guessed I could only have stalled for an entire hour.”

Gladion rolls his eyes. “You seem to have the mistaken impression that I'm impatient and throw tantrums when I don't get my way fast enough.”

“Well, when you yell about how something isn't working or yell about why I haven't made a decision, it kind of leaves an impression on people.”

Gladion rubs his forehead. “I'm going to be defined by those incidents here, aren't I?” Moon decides now isn't the time to tell Gladion about Illima calling him the shouting boy. Instead she makes an attempt to cheer Gladion up. “You could have been known for more humiliating things. Like fainting during an awards ceremony or throwing up onstage.”

Gladion just raises an unimpressed eyebrow. “Those are pretty low bars.” Moon doesn't answer for a moment. Instead she turns back to her work. She's been shelving books, but Kukui had told her to look out for books that were old. Sometimes the library would remove certain books from the shelves because the information was very outdated, or because it was old, or because it had poor circulation. They used those books in used book sales. “I'll be done in maybe half an hour,” Moon tells Gladion, after she notices that he's just standing over her. “Then we can talk.”

Moon can still sense Gladion standing over her. His eyes bore into her back and Moon gets the strange impression that if she turns around she'll be turned into stone. She ignores him for a few moments. She's already told Gladion that she'll be finished with what she's doing in half an hour and she has the list of requests with her. She isn't sure if she's supposed to say something to Gladion. Don't say anything, Moon tells herself. Don't say anything. With Gladion standing over her and Moon not saying anything, she feels like they're in a weird standoff. Or maybe Moon is just being overdramatic.

“Are you going to just stand over me the entire time?” Moon asks. “Do you think I'm waiting for you to leave and then I'll run off? It has to be pretty boring watching me shelve books.”

When Gladion doesn't reply, Moon continues talking. “The great thing about libraries is that as long as you don't cause trouble and follow the rules you can stay as long as you like without anyone bothering you. We have chairs nearby. You can sit if you want. And we have books.”

“I surmised that you would have books in a library,” Gladion says dryly. 

“You're an investigative genius,” Moon says cheerfully. “We have plenty of books to read. You can read something. Maybe you'll find a book you like. Or we have a robotics station.”

“I get the feeling you're trying to get rid of me,” Gladion tells Moon. Moon shrugs. If Gladion wants to just hover over her while she works, that's his business. And she's pretty sure he's not technically doing anything wrong. If Gladion wants to stand there and watch her work, that's his problem. Gladion doesn't say anything and Moon becomes absorbed in her work. After a moment, she remembers something. “Hey, did you ever find out a solution to the curse?” she asks.

Gladion looks startled and then suspicious. “What are you talking about?” he demands.

“You know, when you came in the other day looking for books about curses. Did you ever solve that?”

Gladion's face closes off. It's like a door slamming in her face. “That's not your concern,” he snarls. Moon decides it's probably better if she backs off. She considers offering Gladion her help, but she knows that he won't accept. She wishes there was something more she can do for him. “Is it a life-threatening curse or just an inconvenient curse?” 

Gladion scowls at her. “What kind of curse would you classify as inconvenient?” he demands.

“Well, like making someone speak in rhyme for the rest of their life.” Gladion looks like he's regretting his life choices. He doesn't say anything for a few minutes and Moon thinks he's going to leave. When he speaks, it sounds like the words are being dragged out of him. “Why would anyone curse someone to speak in rhymes?”

Moon hadn't really thought through the reasoning. She'd just said speaking in rhyme because it was the least harmful thing she could think of. Moon doesn't answer. She can't think of an answer and she's pretty sure Gladion doesn't actually care about her answer. But she's surprised when Gladion says impatiently, “Well? I'm waiting.” 

Moon blurts out the first thing that comes to her mind. “Maybe someone thought it was funny. Maybe someone went through a phase where they spoke in rhymes and someone else made fun of them so they decided to curse them as revenge. Or maybe they just wanted revenge but they didn't want to cast something really horrible in case karma caught up to them. It's kind of like how I get irritated at people and I want to wish something bad would happen to them but then again I don't want that to come back to me and I'd feel bad. So I settle for wishing an inconvenience on them.”

Gladion doesn't speak, but Moon can feel the exasperation rolling off him. “Anyway, is the cursed person doing okay? Or as well as they can be, what with being cursed?”

Gladion answers curtly. “It's being handled.”

“I'm glad to hear it. You know if you ever need help with the curse...” She can't stop herself from offering. 

“I don't have time to watch you work.” Gladion strides off before Moon can retort or even make an annoyed face. When she finishes her work and goes to find Gladion, he's leaning against a shelf, reading a book. Moon cranes her neck to see the title, but Gladion shifts so that it's no longer visible. “If you wanted to know what I was reading, wouldn't it be easier to just ask me?” he says. Moon tries to raise her eyebrow. Unfortunately she can only raise both of them, so she doesn't look as cool. “Would you have answered? Like actually answered and not just said, “It's none of your business.” 

“None of your business is an answer to the question,” Gladion points out. He's right, but Moon doesn't want to admit it. “Is it a good book? Do you get to read often?” Moon asks instead. She doesn't think she'll get an answer. 

“What concern is it of yours?” Gladion asks. 

Moon sighs and heads towards the staff room so she can clock out. “There's this thing humans do when we ask questions about people,” she replies. “You know, showing interest in other people, that sort of thing.” 

“Glad I'm not a human, then.” There's no inflection in Gladion's voice, so Moon decides to take it as a joke. She steps into the staff room, clocks out, and beckons for Gladion to follow her.

“Here.” Moon gives Gladion the list of her potential requests. “These are some ideas I had.”

As Gladion reads over the list, Moon tries to focus on something else. She feels like she's back in school and waiting while her teacher grades her essay. She wants to do something to take her mind off the questions she has. What if her requests have insulted him? What if she's broken a faerie taboo? What if-

“You seem to have miraculously thought of requests,” Gladion's voice interrupts her thoughts.

Moon shrugs. “I guess your visit was the push I needed. Honestly, I just had the ideas last night. You know how sometimes you don't have any inspiration or ideas and then all of a sudden they just hit you?”

“No.”

“That's a step up from “none of your business.” Gladion isn't yelling about the requests, so Moon takes it as a sign that she hasn't inadvertently insulted him. Her posture relaxes. “So what do you think?” she asks. “Are these doable?” 

“Why do you want to try the faerie food?” Gladion asks.

“I've read books about how delicious the food is but I know that people can't eat faerie food or else they'll be trapped.”

“Don't waste your request,” Gladion advises. “The food is just mushrooms, twigs, leaves, maggots, and enchanted with faerie magic. It's harder to eat that when you know what it is.”

“I didn't know and did you need to tell me?” Moon asks. Her tone is harsher than she'd like. But she can just see Gladion thinking that she's an idiot. He probably doesn't think about you at all, Moon tells herself. “It's also a bad idea to eat faerie food,” Gladion continues. “It ruins you for any other food. If you do manage to escape Faerie, you'll never want to eat anything again once you've tasted the food. You either starve to death or come back to Faerie. Of course it's harder than it looks to get back into Faerie, so most people just drive themselves insane looking for it.” Moon shudders at the picture. Gladion continues talking. “Of course with the treaty the Seelie Court can't trap humans, but there's no rules like that for the solitary faeries.” Moon isn't sure what she's supposed to say to that. She's going to be paranoid of anyone offering her food now. Get a grip, she tells herself sternly. Knowledge means you're more aware. You aren't suddenly going to be offered magical fruit and be trapped in the faerie realm because Gladion mentioned it to you. A thought occurs to her and her stomach plummets.

“What about the plants?” Moon asks. “Will using the plants in potions mean I'll be trapped in the faerie realm?”

Gladion shakes his head. “No. That doesn't count.” Moon is too relived to question why. She assumes that the plants are too small to count. She figures it's like plants and fruits that are part of a poisonous family, but people won't die from taking a tiny bite. Or maybe it was like Hades and Persephone, where Persephone only had to go back to the Underworld half the year because she ate six pomegranate seeds.

“I don't understand why you want plants,” Gladion says. “You have plants. The plants you used on me worked well.” Moon flushes and looks down. She knows that Gladion isn't complimenting her. She knows that he's just being honest and stating a fact. But it's still nice to be recognized. “My plants work fine, but just think of what I could do if I had access to better resources. Who knows what properties faerie plants have?” 

Gladion nods slowly. “I think I can manage plants,” he says. Moon feels like a giant weight has been lifted off her shoulders. Her request hasn't insulted Gladion. She's going to get magical plants. She feels like laughing and dancing as she thinks of all the things she might be able to do. “So it's a deal. Do I have to do any special ritual?”

“I'll be in touch.” Gladion strides away.

The rest of the day passes by peacefully. When Moon gets home, she sees that Sun has ordered takeout. “Hey. How was work?” 

“Work was fine. Did I get any work orders?”

Sun nods and gestures to a pile of paper on the table. Moon goes over to take a look, but Sun simply points his finger and levitates the paper out of her reach. Moon is too old to jump up and down in a futile attempt to reach the paper. “Really?” she asks. 

“You can eat after you work,” Sun tells Moon. “Come on, I got your favorite.” The food does smell good, Moon has to admit. And Sun is right that she can work after she eats. “I'm doing this because I'm hungry and the food smells good, not because I think you're right.” Moon grabs a carton and sits down. The food hits her stomach, perfectly seasoned, hot and delicious. Moon tries to eat slowly so she can savor the food, but at the first taste, she begins shoveling it into her mouth. Why did she even want to try faerie food? Moon wonders. I wonder if Gladion has tried human food. Can faeries eat human food? Do they get trapped in the human realm if they do? Maybe there are books about it, or a faerie that is more forthcoming than Gladion. Of course knowing her luck questioning faeries would lead to breaking some sort of taboo or she'd have to reveal something else in exchange. Maybe there were people who studied faeries and other supernatural races, like a magical anthropologist. That was what someone who studied other cultures was called, right?

Moon is interrupted from her thoughts by a bit of rice being flicked at her nose. Moon glares at Sun's smirking face as she tries to convince herself that throwing food is beneath her dignity. “Are you for real right now?” she demands. 

Sun looks unrepentant. “You were doing that thing where you were thinking a bunch of things and getting sidetracked and making plans,” he says.

“How do you know that?” Moon demands. “Did you get mind reading powers or something?” She grimaces at the thought of having a brother with mind reading powers. If that turns out to be the case, I'm getting a helmet like Magneto's, she thinks. I wonder how blocking mind reading magic would work. What would I have to use? I guess spells for privacy, obviously, but could they be combined with anything else? Maybe a protection charm?

“You're doing it again!” Sun exclaims. 

“How do you know all this?” Moon's voice rises. 

Sun takes on an infuriatingly patient tone. “You get certain expressions on your face. You even mouth a few of your ideas and gesture.” Moon searches Sun's face for a hint that he's lying, but she can't find any. She groans. Sun pats her arm. “Cheer up. I'll listen to your crazy ideas after you eat.”

Moon resumes eating. She and Sun eat in silence for a few minutes before Sun clears his throat. “So do you like your library job?” he asks.

“Yeah. It's nice. Everyone's nice.” 

“That's good.” The only sound in the room is their chewing. Moon can guess at what's coming next. 

“Are you going to stick around?” he asks. 

“It's a bit early for me to think about quitting,” Moon replies. “It hasn't even been a year.”

“People quit their jobs after a day sometimes.” More silence. Moon doesn't feel like waiting for Sun to think of the words he wants to say. “I'm not going to do it,” she says firmly.

“Come on, Moon! You'd be great at healing!”

“I don't think it would work out,” Moon says. She tries to make her voice as firm as possible, to indicate the subject is over. Sun doesn't pay attention. “You're great at healing.”

“I'm good at potions and salves and things like that. Actual healing requires magic.”

“You know that's bullshit. Okay, you can't cast any healing spells, but are you really going to sit here and tell me you aren't any good at healing?”

“Anyone can do what I do. It's just knowing the right plants and the right combination. The most I'd be doing would be assisting an actual healer.”

“And are you telling me that you have a problem with that?”

“Of course not!” 

“And just think of all the things you would learn!” Sun's voice gets more excited and Moon feels a curl of excitement in her stomach as well. She allows herself to imagine what it would be like, to imagine all the knowledge waiting for her and what she could learn. She imagines assisting during an operation or helping with a cure for a magical poison. It could be possible, Moon thinks. It could be hers. “I don't have magic, though.” It was what had stopped her from applying to a Healing Program when she went to college.

“Yeah, you're the only person in the world with no magic. You know there were ways around that. And it's illegal for jobs and colleges not to accept you just because you don't have magic.” Moon knows all this. She has known all this. But she'd been a coward. She hadn't gone for what she really wanted. She'd locked that desire deep inside of her. She'd already been nervous about college. Teachers had constantly told her how hard it would be, how the professors would be completely unreasonable and not care if she was bleeding out on the classroom floor. She'd imagined the rigors of college would be worse without magic, that she'd be struggling to keep up with her classmates and they'd look down on her and haze her. 

Sun had kept badgering her, demanding to know why she wasn't pursuing a degree in Healing. Moon had always made up an excuse. She wonders what would have happened if Sun would have pushed more or if she'd gone for what she wanted. But...Moon squashes the thought.

“I still have to pay off my student loans,” Moon says.

“That doesn't mean you can't go back to school. And you have a job so that means you'd have money to pay off student loans. And people in college have jobs all the time. The great thing about college is that you can set your own schedule.”

Moon shakes her head. “No, the great thing about college is the fact that you can leave after a test and food courts.”

“Amen to that.”   
They sit in silence for a few minutes. Moon thinks about going back to school. She'd been a coward before and not pursued what she wanted, but maybe she can pursue it now. No, Moon thinks. She'll wait to see how she feels in the morning before considering going back to school.

“I'll think about it,” Moon tells Sun.

“Does that mean you'll actually think about it and consider the pros and cons or are you just saying that you'll think about it when you really mean that you're not going to think about it at all?”

“What if I think about it and I decide I don't want to do it or that it's not practical for me to do it?”

“As long as you aren't refusing to go back to school because you think you won't succeed.” Later that night, Moon dreams about going to college again. She doesn't tell Sun. She's pretty sure that he'll say that it's a sign from the universe that she should go while she'll say that it was just her subconscious manifesting in dream form.

When she wakes up, the dream is still fresh in her mind. Moon doesn't have the urge to run off and apply to college. She remembers what a huge headache that had been the first time. But she doesn't dismiss the idea of going back to college. I'd have to look into colleges near here, Moon thinks. She tries to think about how commuting would work and if she'd be able to take her classes online. She could probably take a few of the classes online. Look into colleges first, Moon tells herself. Make a plan.  
At breakfast, Sun doesn't mention anything about college. Moon inwardly gives a sigh of relief.

*  
Moon decides to talk to Sophocles about college and how he likes it. She goes to work early so she can talk to him. “How's the cloak coming?” she asks. Sophocles gives her a tiny smile. “It's going better. I took your advice and found a way to enhance the magic. That means the spell lasts longer now.”

“That's amazing! How'd you do that?”

“I used crystals from Olivia's shop.” At Moon's confused look he explains, “She's a rock mage. She makes all sorts of magical jewelry.” He beckons Moon closer. “This type of crystal can enhance magic. I was thinking of using it as a broach to fasten the cloak.”

“What do you think would happen if you made a ring with that crystal and cast the invisibility charm on it? Do you think that would make the wearer turn invisible?”

Sophocles groans and slaps his forehead. “I am such an idiot!” he growls. “I can't believe I didn't think of that!”

“You aren't an idiot,” Moon hurries to assure him. “Lots of people overlook really obvious solutions. I think it's a mind thing. We just overlook the really obvious solution because we want it to be complex so we can feel smart when we think of it.” Moon tries to think of times that she's overlooked the obvious but she can't think of any. She knows she's done it, but when she wants to talk about one of those times, her mind goes completely blank. 

“Do you remember what the word is for people who can read minds?” Moon asks. “I want to say that it's clairvoyance, but I think that's for predicting the future.”

“I think so, too. Why do you want to know?”

Moon explains about her idea about protection against mind reading. Sophocles looks interested, but then shakes his head. “It might be hard to conduct that experiment. Mind reading is really hard to do.”

“Good point. You want to get together and work on protection charms sometime?”

Sophocles gives her a tiny smile. “Sure, that sounds fun.” Moon turns to leave before remembering why she'd originally come to talk to Sophocles. “So, how is it going to college and commuting to work? Do you take a lot of classes online?” Sophocles looks a bit surprised at her questions, but answers them readily enough. The schedules and classes are flexible and Moon reminds herself to look up Sophocles's college on her break and research more colleges and request information.

*  
Moon spends her evenings researching different colleges. She's pretty sure Sun notices, but he doesn't say anything. There are a few programs that look interesting. Moon focuses specifically on the potions that use plants and potions as a method of healing. She browses the websites and looks longingly at the greenhouses. It would be nice to be there, she thinks, as she imagines all the different plants she could work with. She sees that the students each get their own greenhouse and are responsible for it. She reads about how they have spells to control the weather, the quality of the soil, etc. Moon doesn't apply to the college, but she does favorite it on her laptop.

*  
A few days later, Gladion thrusts a bag with a few plants into Moon's hands. “Here,” he barks. Moon examines the plants. “Well?” Gladion barks impatiently. “What do you think?” 

“What do these plants do?” Moon asks. 

“I don't know. I didn't ask. I just gathered the plants.” He smirks at Moon. “I figured you'd like the thrill of discovery or something along those lines.”

Moon concedes the point. She examines the plants, excitement thrumming through her as she thinks of all the possibilities. “You know I read this fairy tale where there was this snake that got chopped into three pieces so this other snake went and got three leaves and laid it on top of the snake and the snake came back to life.”

“Was the snake still chopped up in three little pieces?” Gladion asks. 

“No, the snake fused back together.”

“I can't imagine why you'd think I'd care about such a fairy tale,” Gladion says.

“I just thought it was interesting,” Moon replies. She knows that it's a mistake to say that. She doesn't know why she blurted out the fairy tale to Gladion. She doesn't know why she'd expected him to care. If she had the power she'd totally will the floor to open up and swallow her whole. “So, these plants are great and I accept them. So is that it?” Moon tries to keep her voice businesslike, but she can hear the hesitation in her voice.

“Then my debt is repaid and my association with you is at an end.” Gladion's voice is abrupt. Moon nods. She knows that she and Gladion are nothing to each other. At best, they're nothing more than acquaintances. But she's gotten used to him and a tiny part of her feels sad that she won't see him again. It was like that when she left school. She wasn't friends with a few of her classmates (she wasn't enemies with them, either) but at graduation, she'd felt a wave of sadness wash over her at the thought that she wouldn't see them again.

“Gladion,” Moon calls, as Gladion is striding off. He pauses but doesn't turn around. Moon screws up her courage. “Take care of yourself,” she says.

Gladion still doesn't turn around. “Why do you care?” he demands. Moon wants to know why Gladion would think it unusual that someone would care about him. Her heart aches at the thought of no one caring about him. But she doubts he'd want to hear about how everyone deserves to be cared about or something along those lines. She keeps her voice casual. “Well, what if you get injured again and I have to save you? You'd have to deal with me again. Do you really want that?” Gladion doesn't answer. 

*  
When Moon gets home, she notices that she still has Gladion's crystal. There's no need for it anymore, Moon thinks. Gladion already paid his debt and there won't be any need to contact him. So she doesn't actually need the crystal. Still, it seems like a waste to throw it away. Moon picks up the crystal and caresses it gently. It really is pretty, she thinks. Rock magic isn't a huge area of interest for her, so she doesn't have an urge to study the crystal like she would with plants. I can probably use it as a necklace, Moon thinks. Maybe when I touch it, I'll remember the time I was able to help someone and that will give me confidence if I do decide to go back to school.

*

Life settles into a comfortable pattern. Moon divides her time experimenting with Sophocles and examining the plants Gladion has given her. She and Sophocles have taken to experiment with certain plants and seeing how they work as protection charms. They're trying to see just how far the protection extends. The plants work well enough against minor hexes and curses, but they haven't tested them out against any major hexes. Moon toys with the idea of making jewelry with the seeds of some of the plants. She wonders how it would work if she made a perfume from the plants. Does the form the plants are in affect the effectiveness?

She has a harder time identifying the plants Gladion gave her. She's tried to use an app on her phone, but she's gotten no results. She pores over books at the library and marks down entries that look promising. Her thoughts drift to Gladion and she wonders how he's doing. She wonders if he's gotten hurt again and if he found someone to take care of him or was able to patch himself up. She wonders if he was ever able to break the curse. 

*  
Unfortunately, it all goes to hell soon enough. The trouble starts when Sun gets a report of an unknown creature near some ruins. Sun interviews the witnesses, but like lots of witness reports, the reports are varied and confusing. Sun sits at the table with Moon, going over the reports. “Look at this,” he tells Moon. “Some people are saying it was a bird, others are saying it looked like one of those stick insects, others are saying it looks like a giant building. Have you ever heard of a giant building attacking anyone?”

Moon shrugs. “Maybe whatever is attacking them has the power of illusions?” she suggests.

Sun spreads his hands. “Okay, maybe, but why would you use the illusion of a giant building?” 

“Maybe that was the closest description they could come up with. You know people can't think straight when they're panicked. Or maybe the creature has supernatural powers and humans can't comprehend the true form.”

Sun concedes the point. He suggests a shapeshifter as the attacker, which does make sense. That could account for all the different descriptions. They decide to do recon together. As she and Sun walk up the trail, Moon feels a little thrill. She knows that she shouldn't. She knows that this is dangerous, that they're walking into an unknown situation, but this is familiar. It reminds her of the times she and Sun have sneaked out of the house to hunt down monsters. She grips her medical bag tighter.

“What do you think it is?” Sun whispers as they look around. “You want to make a bet?” Moon doesn't answer. She's looking around, expecting the creature to come out of nowhere. She feels like she's being watched, but she doesn't know if that's just paranoia or if she's actually being watched. It feels like an icy finger is stroking her spine. Her heart thuds. Moon turns to Sun and starts to say something. But before she, something slams into her. Moon goes flying. She hits a tree with a thud and slumps on the floor. 

At first all she can register is a ringing in her ears. Her head swims. Dimly she can hear a noise, but she can't make it make sense. Moon tries to move, but pain shoots up her body. “Moon, move!” Moon registers Sun's voice. Why does she need to move? Sun is yelling something and Moon feels hands grabbing her arm and dragging her up. She yelps as pain shoots through her, but Sun ignores her and drags her forward. “What's going on?” she yells. 

Sun shoves her forward. “Run!” he yells. He wheels around and hurls a spell at-something. Moon's mind can't make sense of it. All she can see are red bulging muscles. Sun's spell collides with it, but the creature keeps coming. Moon feels her heart drop. The spell didn't even slow it down. Sun's face drains of color, but he hurls another spell. It doesn't work. Moon rushes forward and yanks Sun out of the creature's path. Frantically she scoops up rocks, dirt, twigs, whatever comes to hand and throws it at the creature, but it doesn't do any good.

“Run!” Sun yells again. But Moon can't move. She can't leave Sun to face whatever this is alone. Even if she wanted to, her feet won't move. She's rooted to the ground. She sees the creature coming towards her, sees the bulging red and orange muscles. A voice in her head screams at her to move, to get out of the way, or at least to duck. Moon knows she should. But she can't make her body move. 

Sun canons into her. Moon lands with a a thump on the ground. Pain shoots through her body, but she has enough awareness this time to know that nothing is broken. Suddenly Sun's weight disappears from her. The creature snatches Sun up and stabs him. Moon screams and she swears her heart stops. Sun hangs limp in the creature's grasp. The color drains from his face. Moon watches, frozen, as the creature's muscles get even bigger. She can see them rippling and bulging and a tiny part of her mind thinks that this can't be possible. 

She doesn't know how long it is until she convinces herself to move. It's probably only a few minutes or even seconds, but it feels like hours. But Moon is charging forward, armed with a branch. She slams the stick against the creature's body. But the creature still has Sun in its grasp. Moon can see the color draining more and more from his face and how his breathing is getting harsher, and how he's hanging limply, helplessly, and she just snaps. She beats the creature with the stick. She doesn't have any coherent thought, except that the creature has her brother, her brother is injured, and the creature needs to let him go.

The creature tosses Sun aside. The way it tosses Sun aside, like he's garbage being tossed out of a car window, sends a wave of fury rushing through Moon. She gives an inarticulate scream of rage that quickly dies as she sees just how enormous the creature is. It could squash me like a bug, Moon thinks dimly. She runs over to Sun. He isn't moving. Moon feels a stab of fear, but she can't worry about that. She has to get him out of here. She doesn't want to turn her back on the creature, so she grabs Sun under his arms and begins dragging him backward. Her injuries ache, but it's a dull sort of ache. Moon knows it's the adrenaline dulling the pain. 

The creature steps forward. Moon freezes. She can't protect Sun. But the creature doesn't move to attack. It just poses. Moon can only stare in incomprehension. The creature poses again and again, and Moon can't make sense of it. But it isn't moving to attack and that's the important thing. Moon resumes dragging Sun. The creature poses again and again, faster and faster. Moon isn't sure, but she senses an increasing frantic energy in the creature.

Then a light appears. Moon can only register that its blue and purple. It blinds her. She shields her face. She thinks that she can make out the creature jumping into the light, but she can't be sure. The important thing is that the creature is gone. Moon collapses, her limbs trembling. For a moment the only thing she's aware of is how hard her heart is beating and how she thinks she'll never stop trembling.

With a jolt she remembers Sun. Frantically, she feels for a pulse. Her heart leaps as she finds a pulse, but then it sinks as she feels how weak it is. She has to help him. Moon runs over to where she's dropped her bag, but it feels like she's moving through quicksand. She grabs the bag and upends it, her fingers frantically searching through potions and salves. What did it do to him? Moon thinks. She has no idea what to use. Her mind goes blank. All she can see is Sun. She tries to keep one eye on him, terrified that if she looks away for a second Sun will take his last breath.

Moon runs her hands over Sun. There's a red stain spreading from where he was stabbed, but it doesn't seem to be fatal. Still, she presses her hands to the injury and tries to figure out what to do. But the feel of her brother's blood on her hands make Moon's mind go blank. She forgets everything she knows about healing. She can't afford that. She can't afford to go blank with anyone's life on the line, but especially her brother's. Something catches her eye. Moon looks down and sees her necklace dangling. She doesn't hesitate. Moon smashes the crystal and screams, “Gladion!”

Gladion appears without a word. Moon doesn't give him a chance to speak. “Please, please you have to help Sun!” she begs. 

Gladion kneels down beside Sun and examines him. “I can't.” He speaks the words softly and with regret, but Moon can't recognize it. “What do you mean you can't, you useless piece of shit?” Gladion flinches slightly. “You're a faerie, you have magic, heal him! Please, I'll-” She's about to say that she'll do anything because any price would be worth paying if she can save Sun's life, but Gladion grips her wrist before she can say anything.

“I don't have that kind of power.” 

“But Lusamine does, right?” Moon grabs at that possibility. She's seen Lusamine heal Gladion. She can heal Sun. Gladion doesn't answer for a minute. Then he reluctantly answers, “Yes.” 

“How do I summon her?” Moon feels like they aren't moving fast enough. She feels that every moment is a moment that Sun is closer to dying. In the back of her mind Moon is aware that Gladion doesn't have to tell her how to summon Lusamine, that if he doesn't Sun could very well die, but she can't fully think about that. Gladion hesitates. “Please,” Moon begs. She doesn't know what she can offer Gladion, but she'll offer it. Gladion pauses for a minute and then says, “Call her name three times.” Moon yells the name out three times. She feels like she's in a suspended state of fear and hope. 

Lusamine appears in a flash of light. Her hair is perfectly made up and her dress is perfectly tailored and it looks like she's going to a party. Before she can speak, Moon is babbling. “Please, please heal Sun! We were attacked by- I don't know what it was, but it stabbed him and now I don't- I don't-” Moon feels her voice break. Gladion moves to her side but doesn't touch her. “Please, can you heal him?”

Lusamine bends down and examines Sun. “I can.” Moon's heart leaps. She feels like she can't get enough air in her lungs. Lusamine can heal Sun. Sun will be fine. Everything will be fine. But then Lusamine speaks and sends Moon's hope crashing down. “But I don't see why I should.” 

Moon can't think of anything to say. Just the idea that someone would be capable of helping someone and not doing it.... “But, but you have to!” Moon blurts out. Gladion squeezes her shoulder in warning and Lusamine's face grows cold. “I am the Queen of the Seelie Court. I don't have to do anything.” 

She's made a mess of it. She's insulted the Seelie Queen and now Lusamine won't help. Moon glances at Sun and steels her resolve. No. She isn't going to let it end like this. Lusamine is right here and she can heal Sun and Moon is going to find some way to get her to do it. But Moon doesn't have time for good decisions. Moon doesn't have time to think. “I'll do something for you!” Moon blurts out. “I'll work for you.”

“Moon, no!” the words burst out of Gladion.

Lusamine doesn't even bother looking at Gladion as she waves her hand. Moon hears a gurgling sound, but she can only focus on Lusamine. “What do you think you have to offer me?” Lusamine says. Her voice is cool. Lusamine is right. What does Moon have to offer her? She doesn't have any spectacular skills and she doesn't have any magic. Moon's mind goes blank. Say something, she yells at herself. But Lusamine is bending down over Sun. “Is he your brother?” she asks. Moon can't speak. She can barely nod. As far as she can see, Sun is still breathing. She holds onto that knowledge. 

Lusamine looks up, smiling. “And you would sell yourself to me to save his life.” Moon nods again. “Such a devoted sibling. I always find that devotion fascinating. Can you imagine loving someone so much that you'd sacrifice your entire life for them? It has such a lovely element of tragedy, wouldn't you agree?”

Moon would agree that the moon was made out of cheese and the earth was flat as long as Lusamine heals Sun. But she doesn't say anything. She's afraid to move, afraid to breathe, afraid to do anything that might dissuade Lusamine from healing Sun. Lusamine looks at Moon. “I agree to your terms, Moon. I will heal Sun, and in exchange you will work for me. Do you agree?” 

“Yes!” Moon means to shout the words, but she can only muster up a croak.” Lusamine runs her hands over Sun. The stab wound closes up before Moon's eyes and the color returns to Sun's face. Moon goes limp. Sun is fine. Sun is alive. She can't think of anything else other than that. Lusamine waves a hand at Gladion and his jaw becomes unstuck. That was the gurgling she'd heard, Moon realizes. She touches Gladion's shoulder, trying to send her support, but he moves away. Lusamine moves forward and grips Moon's hand. Moon is puzzled for a moment but she doesn't have time to worry. Searing pain shoots through her. It feels like she's sticking her hand into a fire. It feels like her skin is being burned off. She can't breathe, she can't think, if she had the breathe she would be screaming, but she can only moan. Then it stops. Moon's cheeks are wet and her wrist throbs. When she looks down, she sees a mark.

“I'll be in contact,” Lusamine tells Moon, and then strides off. She completely ignores Gladion. Moon crawls over to Sun. His breathing and pulse are steady, but he's still unconscious. Moon doesn't know whether it's best for them to just rest here or if she should try and move Sun. But she can suddenly feel the pain of her injuries and doesn't think she can move. You'll have to move, Moon tells herself. Suppose that creature comes back? With that pep talk, she begins shaking Sun.

Hands suddenly grab her wrist. Moon jumps. Right. Gladion is still here. His fingers caress her wrist. His fingers are calloused, but he touches her more gently than she would have expected. Moon remembers what she said to him and feels a wave of guilt. “I'm sorry for yelling at you,” she says quietly. “And thank you for telling me how to contact Lusamine.” She knows she shouldn't say thank you, but if Gladion hadn't told her how to contact Lusamine, Sun would have died. Moon would pay whatever prices Gladion demands. 

Gladion doesn't acknowledge Moon's apology or scold her about saying thank you. He glares at her. “Do you have any idea what you've done?” he demands.

Moon can't think about that right now. She can't think about the repercussions of working for the Queen of the Seelie Court. She focuses on Sun, on the fact that he's alive. “I saved my brother.” Moon wants her voice to be defiant, but it trembles. That's what she'll hold onto. She doesn't know what Lusamine will have her do, but this is her decision. Her decision saved Sun and she'll live with whatever comes next.


	6. Chapter 6

Moon may have made a deal with a faerie, and maybe part of her will regret that (but she hopes she won't because if she hadn't made the deal Sun would have died and what sort of sister was she if she regretted anything that would make her brother live) but that would have to be placed on the back burner for now. She has more considerable concerns, like how she's going to get Sun home and whether or not that creature could come back. The deal with the faeries seems deceptively far off, like a project that due in three months. A hysterical giggle slips out of Moon's mouth like a burp.

“I fail to see what is so amusing,” Gladion's voice rings out. Right. He's still here. Moon doesn't exactly want him to leave and she doesn't think he was spying on her for Lusamine, but doesn't he have anything better to do? “Is that just a statement or is that a hint that you want me to tell you what I was laughing at?”

Gladion raises an eyebrow. “If I was interested in what was making you laugh, I would have asked.” His voice is withering. “I was merely pointing out that it makes no sense for you to laugh. Your brother is injured, you were attacked by an unknown entity, and you've made a deal with the faeries.”

The back of Moon's neck feels hot. The words explode out of her before she can stop them. “I know that! Don't you have anything better to do than stand around here telling me things I already know?!” Moon has had fights with people before, but she can't recall this silence after she's said something. Usually the person would fire back with something, then she would retort. Retreats were done as loudly and angrily as possible because Moon wanted that person to know how much they've hurt her. But this is movie silence, TV silence. This is the moment in the shows and movies when someone says something that just cuts a person down, something that might not be able to be taken back. She's seen enough movies and shows to know what comes next-babbled apologies from the person who had done the shouting, the person shouting either pretending to brush off what was said, or walking away.

In the silence, it feels like Moon's voice echoed back to her. Her voices sounds high pitched and childish. Whatever came over her has gone, leaving behind shame. She should apologize. Gladion was-Moon isn't quite sure of his motives, but she doesn't think he meant any harm. And he isn't wrong about what he's saying. Moon opens her mouth to say that she's sorry, but she's a second too late, and in that moment Gladion vanishes. “Wait!” Moon calls. “Gladion, wait! I'm sorry!” There's no reply.

Stupid, Moon scolds herself. You aren't a child, so why are you snapping like people like you are one? She doesn't know if this has set her back with Gladion. Of course it's not like they have a relationship to be set back. She'd helped him out once, he'd paid her back. In the grand scheme of things, they had the same relationship Moon did with her favorite cashier at a restaurant. Still, she'd been rude and Gladion hadn't deserved to be yelled at, so Moon needs to apologize.

I can deal with that later, Moon tells herself. First I have to get Sun out of here. As if on cue, Sun groans and sits up. “Moon? What happened?” Moon sees the moment when Sun remembers what happened. He surges to his feet, magic crackling at his fingertips. He glances around wildly, his posture tense. “Where is it? Where did it go?” he demands. 

“It's gone,” Moon says. “I don't know where it went. But we should get out of here. How do you feel?”

Sun's brow creases for a moment. “I feel fine,” he says slowly. “But I thought....the last thing I remember...”

“You remember being attacked?” Moon asks.  
Sun nods. “I was being attacked. And then I think I passed out. But I feel fine now.” 

“That's great!” Moon's voice is too high pitched and she knows that Sun will be suspicious. She knows that he has to have questions. He'd remembered being attacked and he must know that his injuries shouldn't have healed that quickly. He's giving Moon a suspicious look. “What happened?” he asks slowly. “What happened after I passed out?”

Moon isn't exactly trying to stall. She knows she should tell Sun what happened. It hadn't occurred to her to keep the fact that she'd made a deal with faeries secret. Of course everything had happened so quickly that she hadn't had a chance to think about keeping this from Sun, but Moon likes to think she wouldn't have. But this conversation should be at home. When she thinks about telling her brother that she made a deal with faeries, ruins don't pop into her mind as a great place to do it. On the other hand, awkward conversations are awkward conversations no matter where a person is. But the most important thing right now is that home is safe.

“We should get out of here,” Moon says. “Suppose that monster comes back?” Sun begins walking down the path. “Do you have any idea what that was?” he asks.

“No. It could be a newly discovered species. Or maybe somebody is experimenting.”

“It could be from an alternate dimension,” Sun suggests. “Do they have books about alternate dimensions?”

“I'll have to check.” It's so normal. Moon and Sun encountering a new creature and trying to figure out what it is. And they have gotten injured before, but not near death injured. Sun is studying Moon intently. Moon turns away and pretends not to notice. “We should get out of here,” she says. She doesn't bother trying to make her voice sound cheerful because she knows that's a lost cause. Moon just concentrates on making her voice not waver.

“You're going to tell me what happened the second we get home,” Sun orders. For a moment, Moon is tempted to walk slowly, but she dismisses the idea as childish and impractical. Moon keeps a close sign on Sun as they walk. He doesn't show any signs of near death experiences. Moon can't stop staring at Sun. Not even an hour ago he was dying. Moon still can't wrap her head around it. It's a thought that's a bit like the sun-something that shouldn't be looked at directly. But maybe the sun was a bad comparison. When Moon thinks of the sun she thinks of the sun shining down while she laid back on the grass, a hike through the forest, a day at the beach, pleasant memories.

When Moon and Sun get home, Moon slumps. Whatever energy she's used to get home is gone. Sun notices. He touches her shoulder. “Are you okay?” he asks, his brow furrowed. Adrenaline and terror had made Moon forget her injuries, but now they throb at the reminder. But Sun has nearly died, and Moon feels like she shouldn't be complaining. “I'm fine,” Moon assures him. “Nothing I can't handle.” Sun gives her a dubious look. Moon almost wishes he would push her on this. Maybe this would distract him from the conversation she doesn't want to have. For a moment Moon considers lying to Sun. But she can't really think of a lie and if she did manage to come up with a lie she'd have to maintain it. It's better to just rip the band aid off. She sinks down into a chair. A sense of relief mingles in with the feeling of anxiety and tiredness she feels. She and Sun are home. They're safe.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Moon's shoulders hunch. She doesn't know how to do this. It was one thing to tell Gladion that she was fine making a deal with Lusamine because it meant Sun was alive and she doesn't regret it, but she can't imagine Sun will take the fact that she made a deal with the faeries to save him well.

“What do you remember?” Moon tells herself it isn't a stalling technique. Sun's face clouds over. “I was hurt. I was really hurt,” he says slowly. “I don't remember much, but I remember that part.” His expression turns resolute. “And I know that that there's no way I would wake up fully healed. Stop stalling, Moon. What happened?”

“I made a deal with the faeries,” Moon blurts out. Sun doesn't say anything and Moon babbles on, if only to distract him from his thoughts. “It's really not so bad.” Then she realizes that's a pretty poor assurance and tries to backtrack. “I mean, I don't think it will be that bad. It might even be sort of educational? Like a cultural exchange program?” Sun still isn't saying anything. Moon tries to think of something to say, but she can't. She wishes Sun would say something. Then he speaks and Moon sort of wishes he hadn't said anything.

“You made a deal with the faeries? How could you be so stupid?” 

Anger sparks to life inside of Moon. “I saved your life!” she yells back. 

“You made a deal with the faeries! Do you have any idea what you've done? Do you know what they could ask you to do?”

There's a joke about mobs and favors on the tip of Moon's tongue, but it's not fully formed and Moon doesn't think it will be a good idea to tell it. She settles on shrugging. Sun runs his hand through his hair. “I don't understand why. Why would you make a deal? You've read enough stories to know how deals with supernatural creatures work out.” Moon hadn't really expected Sun to take the news well, but he actually is. 

“You were dying,” Moon says. She says this in a rush, speeding past that horrible moment when the world had stopped. “You were dying and I couldn't- I couldn't-” Moon breaks off. It's like talking about what happened summons the memories, and Moon remembers the blood on her hands. She remembers the all encompassing terror. It had been a primal thing, something that had stolen away all rational thought. Maybe some people were capable of making good decisions when terrified or under pressure, but Moon wasn't one of them. 

“You-you were stabbed,” Moon continues. “And I didn't have anything-I couldn't think of anything, I-” Moon breaks off. She takes a deep breath and continues. “I summoned a faerie. Well, maybe summoned isn't exactly the right word. That makes me think of summoning demons, or summoning other magical creatures, or spells powerful magic users do. This was more of a desperation call, you know, like when you frantically dial your best friend because you did something stupid and-”

“Moon, please.” Sun's voice is hoarse.

“I called him. I asked him to save you, but he couldn't. But his boss healed him one time. And I figured she could heal you as well.” 

“And then?”

“I asked her to heal you.” Moon pauses. She feels like she's dragging the story out. She decides to just bite the bullet. “She said she wouldn't. I offered to work for her. I'm not exactly sure why she agreed. Maybe it's some sort of faerie whim. I don't know.” Moon holds back on telling Sun that Lusamine had agreed to save him because Moon was willing to sacrifice herself.

Sun's voice comes out in a croak. “I just can't believe you'd be so stupid.” Anger lances through Moon, but she pushes it down. Getting angry won't help, but there's a part of her that wants to. Does Sun think she just walked up to a faerie queen and asked to work for her because she thought it would be entertaining? She hadn't had a choice. Sun had been dying and Moon hadn't been able to help him. Moon's mind goes blank with terror as she thinks about it. She can tell Sun is saying something, but she can't make out what. I should hear a buzzing sound, shouldn't I? Moon thinks. She feels like she's floating, but not in a good way. It's like when she's sick and she can't tell what's real or what's a dream.

There are arms around Moon. Moon is dimly aware of this, but she's not sure what to do about it. The arms squeeze Moon tighter, almost painfully, and Moon flinches. She looks up and sees Sun hugging her, his face pale. When had Sun moved? Why didn't she remember it? Now Moon can make out what he's saying, that he's here, that he's okay, that everything's fine. He nearly died, Moon thinks, and she pushes away the panic she feels at that thought. He shouldn't have to be comforting me. But Moon allows Sun to hold her for a few more minutes. She searches for something to say, something to make the situation be normal. “So you nearly died and I made a deal with the faerie queen. I think this calls for a drink.”

Moon can feel Sun's chest vibrate slightly as he gives a low chuckle. “Do you even have alcohol? You didn't seem too keen on it before.” 

“It was probably cheap wine,” Moon argues. “And I was thirteen.” 

“You ran to the bathroom to spit it out and started drinking from the faucet.” Moon giggles at the recollection. The tense air between them melts slightly. “If you're expecting me to be sorry for what I did-” Moon starts.

Sun interrupts her. “Would you be happy if I made a deal with the faeries?” Moon doesn't answer for a moment. She knows what her answer will be. “I guess it depends on the deal,” she tells Sun. “Like if you made a deal for something really stupid and petty, then I would be mad.” Moon can't come up with any stupid and petty scenarios. 

“You know that's not what I meant, Moon.” It was pretty stupid of Moon to think that she could get away with purposefully misunderstanding what Sun had meant. She doesn't want to say she'd be mad, so Moon decides to answer the question with another question. “Would you have made a deal with the faeries to save me?”

“You know I would.”

Moon sighs. She can't really think of anything else to say. 

Sun can, though. “Do you think there's a way to get you out of this?” he asks suddenly. “Curses always have an escape clause, don't they? What if we could find it? You might not have to work for the faeries after all!” 

“I'm not cursed,” Moon points out.

Sun is undeterred. “Then what about Rumpelstiltskin?” he presses. “The girl in the story had a contract with Rumpelstiltskin and she got out of it, didn't she?” Moon rolls her eyes, feeling a sting of amusement. “I don't think Lusamine will be dancing around singing her true name. And before you ask, yes, Lusamine is the Queen of the Seelie Court. But I'm pretty sure she isn't stupid enough to use her true name, so Lusamine is probably a fake.”

“There must be some way to get you out of this!”

“Forget it!” Moon snaps. “I don't think I can just go to the Queen of the Seelie Court and be like, “Yo, I want to back out of this deal.” I'm pretty sure they take this stuff seriously over there.” Moon doesn't say that she isn't going to risk Lusamine accepting that Moon is backing out of the deal, deciding she doesn't have to keep her end of the bargain, and hurting Sun.

“What if I volunteered to work with the faeries with you?” Sun suggests eagerly. Moon's heart leaps at that, even though she probably should be telling Sun not to try and work for the faeries. 

“I don't think it will be that easy,” Moon tells Sun.

Sun gives her a determined look. “I'm going to try.” He doesn't say anything for a moment. Then he sighs. “I don't want you to think I'm ungrateful or anything, but....” 

“I get it. So, you want to get drunk or what?” 

“You actually have alcohol in the house?” Sun asks.

“Of course. I need them for potions and tinctures.” Sun just stares at Moon for a minute before sighing.

*  
They don't end up getting drunk. Moon has sworn off alcohol because of the incident with the wine. It had happened years ago and it was only a sip and it probably wasn't enough of a reason for her to not want to drink. But she'd never really felt a huge urge to drink. Instead Moon makes tea and she and Sun go over what happened. They don't discuss the deal. But before everything had gone to shit, there'd been a supernatural creature and that needed to be dealt with.

“I have no idea what that was,” Sun says. “Did it look like some sort of jacked up bug to you?”

“I just remember bulging muscles and red and orange.” But Moon writes that down on a piece of paper. “And spells didn't work on it. If anything, I think it made it stronger.” 

“So a bug creature impervious to magic?” Sun drums his fingers on the tabletop. “I can't think of a supernatural creature like that offhand.”

“It could be part of a breeding program,” Moon suggests. “Like people trying to crossbreed certain creatures.”

“Or it could be someone who is really into bugs and decided to do magical experimentation on them.”

Moon rolls her eyes, but she can feel amusement tugging at her. “I'm pretty sure there have been comic book villains who would do shit like this.” She sobers. “I'm just not sure what we're dealing with,” Moon says. “We weren't prepared at all.” She grips her pen harder, as though that will help when facing down the creature again. More details suddenly rush back to Moon and she makes a squeaking noise. “Oh! It was posing!” she exclaims. “And it went into this portal! At least I think it was a portal. There was a flash of light and it jumped into it.”

Sun's eyes brighten. “A portal? Do you think this means that there are alternate dimensions?” Part of Moon is swept along in Sun's excitement. She wants the world to be bigger than it really is. She wants the world to be full of things waiting to be discovered. But another part of her holds back. “It could just be fancy teleporting,” she admits. “I just assumed it was a portal, but it might have just been teleporting. You know how some people have to be all theatrical about that. They have to have wisps of black smoke or bright lights.” Moon adds teleporting/portal? To the list.

“What about the ruins?” Sun says excitedly. “That could have something to do with it, right?” Moon makes a gesture for him to go ahead. “We got reports of the creature at the ruins, right? What if it's the guardian of the place?”

Moon feels her excitement rising. “We could explore the ruins!” she exclaims. “Maybe that will give us a clue about where the creature came from. I wonder if there's any books or local legends about the ruins. Maybe Hala will know know some legends.” Hindsight hits Moon. Maybe if they'd thought to do research sooner or asked about local legends instead of going off on the word of sketchy eyewitness accounts. They'd been stupid and reckless. Moon clenches her fists and takes a few deep breaths. Dwelling on the past won't help. But then she thinks, “Am I just trying to brush my mistakes away?” 

Sun's voice breaks into her thoughts. “You okay?” he asks.

“Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking that hindsight can be a bitch, that's all.” They couldn't go off without proper information again. A part of Moon tries to argue that this is just supposed to be a recon mission, but it feels like a feeble excuse. They have to do better next time. Moon tries to inject as much confidence in her voice, hoping that fake it until you make it will apply. “So I'll ask Hala if there are any legends about the ruins, and see if I can get books from the library.”

Sun nods. “And I'll see what I can do about protecting the general population.” Moon remembers how helpless she and Sun had been against the creature. A wave of relief rushes through her at the fact that no one else was hurt. It's a small mercy and it's not like she would rather she and Sun were hurt instead of other, even though she doesn't wish harm on others either. But it's still a mercy and Moon will take it. 

“We haven't gotten reports on any attacks,” Sun says. “So maybe it attacked because we were trespassing?”

Moon nods, but then another thought occurs to her. “But others have seen it before, haven't they? Why weren't they attacked?” 

“Maybe they were too far away to be considered a threat? Maybe the creature just didn't like us?” Moon doubts the creature would have attacked out of spite, but she can tell by Sun's expression that he doubts that's the motive. It's more likely that the creature felt threatened.

*  
Moon and Sun spend time making a list of the creatures characteristics and proofreading it. Moon tries to draw a picture, but it looks like a child's doodle. “Do you think this will be enough proof to keep people away?” she asks. “I mean, it sounds pretty sketchy, doesn't it? And it's not like we have really great proof.”

“We have eyewitness accounts,” Sun points out. “I'm pretty sure that if enough people say they saw the creature, people will believe it.”

“Or they'll want to see it for themselves. Or chalk it up to mass hysteria.” Moon sighs and Sun groans. 

“I could cast a spell to keep people away,” Sun suggests halfheartedly.

“ I could ask Hala to put the word out,” Moon suggests. In the end, they decide to ask Hala to put the word out. Moon is hoping that the word of the Kahuna will be enough to deter people from going to the ruins. We should have gone to him, Moon thinks. She hates hindsight. She hates how better decisions seem so much more obvious when it's too late to do any good. Moon keeps stealing glances at Sun. When she and Sun were brainstorming, she could keep the memories of what happened at bay. But now she has nothing to distract her. She doesn't think dwelling on what happened will do any good, but trying not to think about it is like having a huge urge to cough or sneeze and trying not to.

Sun notices her expression. “You want to do a movie night?” he asks, and Moon feels shame prick her again. He's the one who nearly died. He shouldn't be comforting her. She has to find some way to comfort him. Moon makes her voice sound cheerful as possible. “Sure,” she says. “You can pick the movie.” She almost says that since he nearly died he can have movie pick, but it feels too soon. Moon sits with Sun and tries to get into the rhythm of things when watching movies-inside jokes, making modern pop culture references, asking why a character didn't do this instead of that. Moon finds herself relaxing slightly.

*  
The movie had helped, but it was only a temporary fix. Moon lies in bed, unable to sleep. She keeps thinking that Lusamine will appear in her room to drag her off to the Court. What does working for her mean? Will she have to leave her home? What if she has to move into the Seelie Court and it turns out a hundred years went by and all her family and friends are dead? What if she's going to be used as a plaything for the faeries? She remembers reading books about faerie cruelty. Her heart begins to pound and regret starts to creep up on her but she pushes it back because she doesn't want to regret saving Sun. She knows logically that it's possible to feel two conflicting emotions at once. But her heart tells her that being afraid of what Lusamine will do means she regrets saving Sun.

Moon tries to reason with herself. You went to the Court before and a hundred years haven't passed. And there is a treaty, so I don't think they can use you as a slave. But there could be ways around the treaty. What does Lusamine want me to do? I don't have any magic. Maybe she wants to use me for some sort of weird experiments? Or maybe she will want me to do odd jobs, like scrubbing floors. But I'm pretty sure that they would have servants for that stuff. Maybe she wants me to lie? Faeries can't lie. Or maybe she wants me to heal faeries? Maybe do a bunch of odd jobs?

But Moon can't come up with anything. That's the worst part-the not knowing. Moon closes her eyes again, but they fly open as soon as she hears a rustle. She looks wildly around her room, expecting to see Lusamine but she doesn't see anyone. It's probably just Sun or an animal outside. Moon tries to relax. What will happen will happen, she tells herself. Another thought occurs to her. She should tell Kukui about this. Lusamine might want Moon to do things for her during work hours. I wonder if she'll accept the fact that I can't leave work whenever, Moon thinks. Then again, she's a Faerie Queen. I don't think I can say no to her. What am I supposed to tell Kukui-I made a deal with a faerie and that I might have to run off without notice? I wonder how much time I have saved up. I suppose I'll have to use that time.

Moon sighs. She supposes she should be grateful that she lives in a world where people are aware of magic. She's seen enough things to know how sneaking around and lying to keep supernatural secrets can take a toll. I'll talk to Kukui, Moon tells herself. I'll talk to Hala. I wonder how my making a deal with Lusamine affects the treaty. I'll talk to Hala. Comforted at the thought of telling people more experienced than her what's going on, Moon attempts to go to sleep. She closes her eyes and tells herself that she won't open them again. A few seconds later, that plan goes out the window when she hears Sun yell.

Moon bolts out of bed. She's barely able to register the fact that the ward haven't gone off as she hurtles towards Sun's room. He's thrashing about in the sheets. Moon rushes over. “Sun!” she calls. Sun flails, and Moon is pretty sure she would have gotten a fist to the face if his arms hadn't been tangled in the covers. Moon reaches over and shakes his shoulder. “Sun!” she calls again. Sun's eyes fly open. His gaze is confused and wild as he looks around the room. “It's just me,” Moon says. She makes her voice as soothing as possible. “So you were able to sleep, huh? Lucky. Or maybe not lucky because you're having nightmares. At least I assume you were having a nightmare because you were screaming and yelling. Do you think that's a common thing? On TV everyone screams and bolts upward. But do people really do that when they have nightmares?”

Sun's voice is a hoarse croak. “Are you going to do an experiment to find out?” he asks.

“I don't have any particular plans to do an experiment about that. I wonder if certain people are more predisposed to have jolting awake nightmares. I suppose this could mean they'd need stronger doses of dreamless sleep potions, but this is all theoretical so....”

Moon and Sun fall into silence. After a few minutes of Sun not saying anything, Moon speaks. “You want to talk about it?” she asks.

Sun shakes his head. “You want me to leave?” Moon asks. Another head shake. “You want me to make tea?” A nod. “Okay.”

*  
It was amazing a hot beverage or food can make the world seem less shitty. Or at least equip people to deal with the shittiness. Moon and Sun sit sipping tea. After a few minutes where the only sounds are accidental slurping, Sun speaks. “I dreamed about what happened today.” Moon puts down her mug and places a hand on Sun's. “It all happened so fast,” he says. “I barely remember any of it. I didn't have a chance to do anything.” Moon wishes she could say something to make it better, like at least they got out of it okay, but they hadn't, really. Then again, being alive was probably preferable than being dead.

Moon suddenly realizes that she may have been silent a bit too long. What if Sun thought she was ignoring him? She tries to think of something to say, but all she can think of, “Today was a shit day.”

“I'll drink to that.” Sun takes a gulp of tea like it's liquor. “Hopefully tomorrow won't suck so much.”

Moon groans. “You've jinxed it.”

“No, jinxing it would be if I said it can't get any worse. And exactly what are the statistics of saying that and things actually getting worse? You notice it more often when bad shit happens so you say to yourself that you jinxed it. But there have to have been times where you say things like it can't get any worse and it doesn't get any worse and you don't really notice because why would you?”

This is so familiar. She and Sun, talking about stupid things. Moon wraps her arms around Sun and squeezes. “You understand,” she mumbles into his shirt. “You understand why I had to do it?” Stop it, she scolds herself. Stop making things about you! Stop looking for reassurance from Sun! Sun hugs her back. “And you understand why I'm not happy, right? Don't get me wrong, I would have done the same for you, but you wouldn't be happy with me, either, would you?” Moon shakes her head. 

*  
Moon isn't sure how, but she manages to get enough sleep so that she can be a functional human being at work. Or at least pretend to be one. She and Sun eat breakfast together. Moon attempts to be subtle as she looks at Sun. “So you'll tell Kukui about what happened and see how that's going to affect your job,” Sun says. “And try and find out any information about the ruins.”

Moon is reluctant to leave Sun, but she doesn't want to hover. Besides, staring at him won't get her a paycheck and she does need to talk to Kukui and use the library, so she heads in to work. As she rides her bike to work, her eyes are peeled just in case that creature appears. Moon nearly crashes her bike when she sees a flash of orange. There haven't been any reports of it in any places other than the ruins, she tries to assure herself. But that doesn't stop her heart from racing and her palms from sweating. 

When Moon gets to the library, she dashes inside. It's hard to feel scared surrounded by so many books and familiar noises and the sun light streaming through the windows. She's surrounded by people. She's safe. Find Kukui, Moon tells herself. She finds Kukui in his office. He smiles when he sees her. “Hey there, Moon! How's it going?” 

“I need help.” 

Kukui's smile fades. “That doesn't sound good. Are you in trouble?” He pulls out a chair for Moon to sit and at her request places privacy charms around the office. For a moment she doesn't say anything. She can't form the words. Kukui doesn't say anything. Moon wonders how long she can get away with staying silent. Just bite the bullet, she tells herself. “I made a deal with the faeries,” she says. “With Lusamine. The Queen.” She keeps her eyes on the desk so she doesn't have to see Kukui's face.

For a few moments there's silence. “Why did you make a deal with the faeries?” Kukui's voice is even, but Moon thinks she can detect a hint of reproach in it. She tries not to bristle. She might just be misreading his tone or projecting. Moon tells him the entire story. Kukui is silent for a few minutes then he speaks. His voice is gentle. “Moon, look at me.” Moon looks up. Kukui's eyes are compassionate. “We can work through this, okay? You still have a job here and if you need to take time off to do stuff for Lusamine, that's fine. We can take it out of your time or you can just work on your scheduled days off to make up for it. How does that sound?”

“That sounds fine. Thank you.”

“No problem. I know you can get through working for Lusamine. Hey, it will look great on a resume, right?” A startled laugh bursts out of Moon. There's something about telling someone else about what happened and having them support her that makes things seem like they'll be alright. Kukui's face grows grave. “And you said you and your brother were attacked at the Ruins of Conflict?” 

Moon perks up at the name. She's gotten a lead. “Yeah, we were. Do you know anything about the Ruins?”

Kukui rubs his chin thoughtfully. “I remember that Tapu Koko is said to be the guardian deity of the place. I've been up the the Ruins a few times to see if Tapu Koko would appear to be me, but it's been an no go so far.”

Tapu Koko, Moon thinks. If Tapu Koko is the guardian deity of the ruins, that might explain why he attacked Sun and Moon. But Tapu Koko has never attacked Kukui. He might not be around all the time, Moon thinks. Moon describes the creature that attacked her and Sun as best as she can and asks Kukui if that sounds like Tapu Koko. Her hopes are dashed when Kukui shakes his head. “Does what I described sound at all familiar?” she presses, and again Kukui shakes his head. Moon slumps, then gives herself a little shake. It would have been too much to ask that she would have found out what attacked them on the first try. But still, she's gotten a name. Maybe the Ruins do have something to do with it.

Moon falls into the rhythm of her work. She keeps thinking that Lusamine or maybe another faerie will come and drag her off, but they don't. This is a public place, Moon tries to assure herself. And there are wards and protection charms, I think. But what if Lusamine can get through them? I don't think she can abduct me. Part of her wishes that Lusamine would just show up so that she can stop dreading the unexpected, while another part of her dreads seeing Lusamine. On her lunch break, Kukui hands Moon several books about the Ruins of Conflict and Tapu Koko. A huge grin breaks out across Moon's face. “Thank you so much!” she exclaims. 

Anticipation fills her as she opens the book. Moon sees a picture of Tapu Koko and disappointment fills her when she sees it looks nothing like the creature that attacked her and Sun. Kukui said Tapu Koko didn't look anything like it, Moon scolds herself. Get a grip. She focuses on the text, scribbling down notes of interest. Tapu Koko is said to be a faerie. Does that mean iron will work against it, Moon wonders, and dismisses the thought. She isn't trying to attack Tapu Koko. Another thought occurs to her. If Tapu Koko is the guardian of the place, why wasn't it there that day or all the other days the mysterious creature was sighted? But she reads a little more and sees that Tapu Koko might not always help people who ask for it. It might come to battle or play with people who he found interesting. Still doesn't explain why Tapu Koko wasn't doing anything, Moon thinks. Then again, she's seen shows about deadbeat deities. Moon shakes her head. She can see deities not interfering with human affairs, but this was Tapu Koko's own territory. Wouldn't he have wanted to defend it? Or maybe he didn't think the creature was a threat? 

I wonder if Tapu Koko's energy attracted that creature? Moon thinks. Then she frowns. Does Tapu Koko come from Alola? She wonders. Suppose he and that other creature are from the same place? Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree, Moon thinks. She turns to the book about the Ruins. I wonder why they're called Ruins of Conflict, she muses. She guesses that there was probably a war or some other battle and the Ruins are the remains of a castle or a building. 

Moon reads about how there had been a battle and the people of the island had entreated Tapu Koko to help them. Many people had died during the battle. Moon wonders if so many deaths could have set something off. She's read books where people sacrificed others for power. What if all those deaths unleashed some sort of energy? Moon shakes her head. People had died. She doesn't think she should be thinking about their deaths like that. So far she doesn't have any answers. She does have more questions, such as where Tapu Koko was when that creature appeared and whether or not she can summon Tapu Koko and have him fight the creature. She decides against it.

I wonder if this is the first time this creature or something else like it appeared, Moon wonders. I'm pretty sure people would remember if it happened recently, but what if it happened a long time ago? Hasn't she read stories about how supernatural creatures used to appear more frequently in the old days? Moon squashes the hope. Even on the off chance that this supernatural creature has appeared back in the day, she doubts there will be a journal entry giving step by step instructions on how to defeat it. You don't really have anything to lose, Moon tells herself. What's the worse that can happen? You find a dead end? She decides to see if she can find old newspapers online tonight.

*  
When Moon gets back home, she sees Hala and Hau are there. She starts. Sun waves sheepishly at her. “I hope you don't mind that I invited them over,” she says.

“No, it's fine. Did you tell them...” Sun nods. Moon hovers, unsure of how to react. She was going to tell Hala about what happened, but she wanted to do it on her own terms. You wanted to spin the story to make yourself look better. She doesn't know what Sun has told Hala and Hau and how she comes across in the retelling. Stop it, Moon scolds herself. You have better things to worry about.

Hau bounds over. “We brought takeout!” he exclaims. “It's rude to show up to a house without bringing something.”

Hala gives Hau a stern look. “We have important matters to discuss.”

Hau, however, is undeterred. “And we can't discuss it over food? Multitasking is a thing.” Hala laughs and the mood in the room lightens. Moon goes to get plates and they all gather around the table. As they eat, Moon and Sun describe what happened. Hala's forehead creases. “And you say it was completely impervious to magic?” he asks.

“Yeah, it shrugged off an attack like it was nothing,” Sun replies. “Have you ever heard of a creature like that?” Hala shakes his head and Moon tries not to slump in her seat.

“You said it kind of looked like a bug, right? Hau asks. “What if we attacked it with fire?” 

“Fire might not work against it,” Sun interrupts. “But it is worth a shot.” He pauses and glances at Moon. “I'm not sure if I want to hurt it, though. I know it nearly killed me, but before that it hadn't attacked anyone else.”

Moon speaks before someone else can. “We can't take that risk. I'm not advocating killing or anything, but suppose someone else runs into the creature and gets attacked? There has to be some way to defeat it.”

Hau looks at Hala. “Do you have any ideas, Gramps?”

Hala frowns thoughtfully. “The most pressing concern is the safety of the people in town. He looks at Sun and Moon. “You two are positive that it has only appeared by the Ruins of Conflict?”

At their nod, he strokes his beard thoughtfully. “I'll have the area banned and put up a shield to prevent people from getting in.”

“It would also need to keep this creature in,” Sun says. “You can put up a barrier to prevent people from coming near the Ruins, but what happens if the creature can get through the barrier?”

“If Gramps tells people not to go somewhere, they'll listen to him,” Hau says confidently, and Moon chooses to believe him. She wishes there was something more that could be done, aside from reading a few books and articles and hoping she would stumble into an answer. 

Hala turns to Moon. “And I heard you made a deal with Lusamine.” The change in topic startles Moon and all she does is nod. She waits to hear judgment, but Hala doesn't say anything along those lines. Instead he says, “I don't know if this means you are a member of Lusamine's court and if you are under her jurisdiction.”

“I'm not a member of her court!” Moon bursts out. Her voice is too high pitched. She can't be a member of a faerie court. She just can't be.

Hala looks at her gravely. “You agreed to work for her. She might consider you a member.”  
“But I'm a human!” Moon protests.

Hau pats her hand reassuringly. “She might not consider you a member of the court. She might consider you a freelance agent.”

“If she is a member of the court, that means she has the protection of the court,” Hala points out. Moon isn't sure how to feel about this. Hala continues before Moon can think of anything to say. “The thing is, your status could very well depend on Lusamine's mood.”

Hau rolls his eyes. “That's the thing with working with faeries. They don't have a set of laws. Their idea of justice is based on whim.” Moon's breathing quickens slightly. She doesn't want to take deep breaths at the table and draw attention to herself, so she takes a bite of food and focuses on chewing. She has no idea what she's gotten herself into. She knew that in a vague way before, but she'd told herself that if Sun was okay she'd be fine. But hearing Hala and Hau telling her that her fate might be dependent on Lusamine's mood....

The other unfortunate thing is that breaking bargains is the worst sort of taboo for faeries, so Moon doubts she can go back on her word. And as she told Sun, she isn't going to take the chance that Lusamine will do something to him if she tries to back out of the deal. She feels both hopeful and frustrated when Hala and Hau leave. More people know what happened. She and Sun aren't alone. She hopes Hau or Hala can think of a solution that they missed. But at the same time, it doesn't feel like they've accomplished anything. Hala has promised to put the word out regarding the Ruins, and he's looking into spells to either bind or banish the creature. He's also promised to help negotiate a better deal with Lusamine. He says that it might be less insulting coming from him. Moon doesn't care what the reasoning is. She's just glad she has someone in her corner.

*  
Unfortunately, Lusamine isn't having visitors. Hala tells her that she's refused requests for a meeting and she has guards refusing entry to the court. Moon thinks that Lusamine disapproves of Hala fighting her battles, and resolves to go and speak to Lusamine herself. But her resolve fails her. She tells herself that she might inadvertently insult Lusamine by trying to negotiate a better deal. It will be fine, Moon attempts to assure herself. It's amazing how adaptable people are. But she can't keep from glancing over her shoulder. 

Sun is all set to barge into the Seelie Court until Moon talks him down. He's taken to going to the Ruins. Moon almost feels her heart stop, but Sun tells her that there might be something in the magical energies of the place that he might be able to sense. Moon argues against it. She tells him that Hala would be able to sense the energies just as well, so there's no need for him to go. It sounds like she's trying to throw Hala to the wolves. Sun tells Moon that he'll be careful. She's woken him up from more nightmares and he has a certain look in his eyes that makes Moon wonder if this is a way of confronting trauma. When Sun comes back for the first time, Moon tackles him in a hug. Sun says he didn't see the creature, but there's something unusual about the energy of the place.

Moon tries to distract herself by focusing on making potions and salves. It works partially. She's able to calm down when she makes them, if not completely relax. She spends her nights and days off going through old newspapers and books, trying to find a reference to the creature. So far she's marked down a few things, but those aren't leads that make her want to scream, “Eureka!” It's more like obscure references and recollections in journals that make Moon think, “That might be worth looking into,” without any sort of enthusiasm or hope. It's looking at the articles and journals and trying to locate the descendants or other surviving family members and hoping that the story has been passed down.

It's like she's living in a state of suspended animation. Moon wants the other shoe to drop. So when she comes home to see Lusamine sitting at the table, she feels nothing but relief. She puts down her bag and looks at Lusamine. Lusamine smiles, warm and welcoming and Moon straightens up as Lusamine says in a clear voice, “Hello, Moon. I'm here to talk to you about your first assignment.”


	7. Chapter 7

Moon remembers reading a book where the main character was in jail. He'd felt a sense of relief because the worst had already happened. He couldn't fall any further. Moon begins to think that anticipation might be worse than the actual event. Then it hits Moon that she's about to perform a task for a faerie queen and her thoughts turn from a sort of numb relief to panic. What if Lusamine wanted her to steal a baby? Didn't faeries steal babies? How was she supposed to steal a baby? Moon doesn't think it will be hard to overpower a baby, but she doesn't know how she's supposed to steal one. Is she just supposed to go to a park and wait for a parent to take their eyes off their kid? It's not like she knows anyone with babies. And she also has a moral objection to kidnapping a baby.

Luckily, Lusamine's voice breaks into Moon's thoughts. “There have been some drownings at Brooklet Hill. I'd like you and Gladion to investigate.” Moon can't do anything more than nod. Luckily, Lusamine doesn't seem to be expecting an answer. She rises gracefully from her chair. “I'll give you an hour to get your affairs in order.” Moon swallows the impulse to say thank you. She isn't sure if she can be any more in Lusamine's debt, but she doesn't feel like taking the chance.

Lusamine suddenly whirls on Moon and grips her wrist tightly. Moon makes a strangled noise and tries to tug away, but it feels like her wrist is encased in cement. Lusamine smiles at Moon. When she speaks, her voice is gentle and reasonable. “I didn't have to save your brother, did I?” she asks. When Moon shakes her head, Lusamine sighs. Her voice is still reasonable. “But I did, didn't I?” Without warning, she squeezes Moon's wrist. For a moment Moon doesn't feel anything, but a slight pain, but it's really no worse than when they put on the cuff to take her blood pressure at the doctor's. But then the pain hits. It's sudden, like an unexpected blow to the stomach, except worse. Moon can't even find the breath to scream. She can't do anything but plead to please, please end, but she can't even find the breath to do that. Lusamine drops Moon's wrist and she crumples to the ground and lays there. 

Lusamine is still talking, but it feels like her voice is coming from far away. Moon can barely register it. “I didn't have to help you, but I did. Your brother would be dead if it wasn't for me. So I find it quite rude that you would try to renegotiate our deal.”

These word strike something in Moon. She's mad, she thinks. She's mad that Hala tried to negotiate something. I should, I should- Moon can't think. She's dimly aware that she should be doing something, but those are just thoughts. Another jolt lances through her. It feels like she's been stabbed. She thinks she moans. She knows she moans in her head, but she isn't sure if she made the noise. Lusamine's continues. “Still, I suppose I can't be too surprised or disappointed. It's natural that children would want to test their boundaries. It's natural that they would throw their parents' hard work back in their faces. I suppose I can't be surprised at your ingratitude.” 

All of a sudden, the pain stops. Moon curls into a ball, gasping. Lusamine strokes Moon's hair back, and despite herself, despite what Lusamine has just done, Moon leans into the touch, taking whatever comfort she can. Lusamine's voice is still gentle, and if Moon keeps her eyes closed and focuses on the touch, she can pretend Lusamine is her mother or someone who cares about her, and not a faerie queen who attacked her to teach her a lesson. “I hope you know that I don't enjoy hurting you. But pain can be an excellent teacher, don't you believe? After all, a child won't stick their hand in the fire twice, will they?” 

Lusamine doesn't care much for an answer. She continues speaking. “I won't hear any more about trying to get out of our bargain or negotiate another deal, will I?” She must assume that Moon's answer is yes, because she leaves.

Moon curls up in a ball on the floor. The pain is gone, but Moon can't bring herself to move. She's never really been attacked so personally before. Sure, she may have gotten an injury here or there when she and Sun were hunting creatures, but that hadn't been personal. But Lusamine had come into her home. She'd attacked her. Indignation pushes past Moon's fear. She'd been attacked in her own home. How dare Lusamine barge in here and attack her? What made her think she could do that?

She has the power, Moon thinks grimly. She got right past Sun's wards. And it's not like I could have defended myself. Moon suddenly realizes that she must look pathetic, curled into a ball on the floor and gets to her feet. You have business to take care of, she tells herself. Focus on that. She pushes what happened to Lusamine to the back of her mind. She has to focus on practical matters. She texts Kukui that she can't make it into work tomorrow because she has business to do. She feels a wave of guilt at the short notice.

What else does she need? Moon thinks. Anti drowning charms would be good. Do they sell those anywhere? It doesn't matter now, since all the shops would be closed. I should let Sun know, Moon thinks, and goes to her room to send the message. A few minutes later, Sun barges into the room. “Why are my wards down?” he demands. “What happened?” He takes a closer look at Moon. “You look pale. Are you okay?” Moon wants to tell Sun what happened, but she can't see what that will accomplish at the moment. She tries to focus on more practical matters. Then she realizes that Sun won't let up until she answers his question.

“Lusamine got through,” she says. What is she supposed to take with her? She stares around her room, hoping that by some miracle what she needs will just magically appear. 

“How did she get through?” Sun demands. “Did she do anything to you?”

“I guess she's powerful.” Let's see, did she have any books about mythical water creatures? Did she and Sun ever battle any? There was the kappa when they were twelve and the mermaids when they were fifteen. Moon rummages around, grabbing whatever books she can that have reference to supernatural creatures. I should also go to the library early in the morning to see if there are any other books. I wonder if Brooklet Hill has one. I don't remember that location being on the list of libraries.

“Did she do anything to you?” Sun's voice rises.

Moon debates lying, but she figures Sun will see through her. “Nothing major,” she tells him. “And anyway, it's not something we can handle now.”

“She attacked you!” Sun's voice is outraged, but there's a tint of fear. “She got through my wards-it's not safe for you here!”

“I'm between a rock and a hard place.” Moon's pretty sure her attempt at keeping her voice calm and level fails. She wants to run because home is no longer safe and home is supposed to be safe. But she has other concerns that have to take priority. She turns to Sun. “I don't suppose you can get me not drowning charms, can you?”

Sun gives her such a look of incredulous disgust that Moon can't help but snicker. “There are no such things as not drowning charms. Do you mean charms that keep you floating no matter what, or charms that give you air underwater?”

“Second one. I have to investigate drowning incidences and I need it just in case I run into the culprit.” Culprit sounds too light-hearted, Moon thinks. It sounds like something from a children's television show. 

Sun's voice is skeptical. “What do you know about investigating drowning deaths?” Moon shrugs. She can't imagine why Lusamine would have her investigate mysterious drownings. She doubts Lusamine will tell her what her reasoning is. Closing her eyes, Moon tries to think. She tries to recall all the crime drama shows, all the movies, any books that have made references to drownings. But all that she can conjure is an image of a body floating face down in a pool and a voice saying that there was no water in the lungs. Of course if there was no water in the lungs, that probably meant the person hadn't drowned, Moon thinks. Why is she thinking about such things?

She casts another glance at her things, trying to figure out if she'd missed packing something. She double checks to make sure that she has the glasses Sophocles gave her. 

Sun watches her. “So, Lusamine thinks something is drowning people. Did she give you a name? Kappa, grindylow, that sort of thing?”

“I don't know if anything is drowning people,” Moon points out. “It could just be...” her voice trails off. She isn't sure how common drowning is at Brooklet Hill. “Brooklet Hill might just be a dangerous place,” she says after a pause. “You know, like a beach that's notorious for its riptides and stuff like that.”

“If that's the case, why is Lusamine having you investigate?” Sun doesn't relent.

“Maybe there have been rumors about supernatural activity and she wants to dispel them?” Moon's voice sounds unconvincing. She takes a deep breath and tries to sound firm. “Look, I'm not sure if it matters right now why Lusamine wants me to investigate. I'm not in a position to question or argue ."

Sun's shoulders slump. “I just hate this,” he mutters. “She's sending you in blind.”

“Haven't we gone in blind before?” Moon attempts to lighten the mood. 

Sun's face darkens. “Yeah, and look how well that turned out for us.” There's a pause that's filled with things that neither of them want to give voice to. Moon wishes she could think of something to say, but she can't. After a moment she awkwardly asks, “So, how have you been doing with the whole....” her voice trails off. 

Sun shrugs. “I'm okay.” Moon can hear the pause in his voice, but she wants to respect his boundaries and not push him to talk. “Gladion will be with me,” Moon attempts to reassure Sun. She tries to remember if he and Gladion have ever met and if she's spoken to Sun about him. The words come spilling out of her mouth. “He works for Lusamine. I met him a few times. He's....” Moon is about to say nice, but that doesn't really fit Gladion. Instead she says that he's straightforward.

Sun doesn't look pleased at the mention of Gladion. “So he works for Lusamine? How do you know she's not sending him there to spy on you for her?”

“Gladion's not like that,” Moon protests.

“How do you know?” Sun presses. “How well do you know him?”

Moon has to admit that he has a point. She really doesn't know Gladion well enough to be defending him. All she has are her instincts that he's a decent faerie, but she really has no basis for those instincts. She decides to use logic. “I'm not sure if Gladion is cut out to be a spy,” Moon tell Sun. “He lacks subtlety. Of course he could just tell me he's spying on me for Lusamine. He might not be spying, though.”

“Why else would Lusamine have him go with you?”

“Maybe to fight whatever might be drowning the people. Maybe we're supposed to work as a team. I didn't question her.”

Sun doesn't say anything for a few moments. “Do you trust him?” he asks. 

Moon pauses. She does, but she doesn't want to tell Sun that because she doesn't really have too much of a reason to trust Gladion. Then again, she has no reason not to trust him. “He's the only familiar faerie to me and he's been nicer than Lusamine,” she says eventually. 

Sun scoffs. “That's a low bar.”

Moon smirks, then sobers up. “I don't think he's interested in directly working against me. Hopefully he'll be professional about this.” Moon sighs. “And you're forgetting, I don't really have a choice here. I just have to make the most of it.”

As she says that, Moon looks around once more. The reality of the situation hits her. What is she supposed to take? How is she supposed to prepare? She's not a detective. How is she supposed to know what to do? It suddenly feels like she can't breathe. Why can't she breathe? How could she have forgotten how to breathe? But she has. Her lungs feel frozen, and she's unable to pull in a breath of air.

Arms are around her suddenly, and Sun's voice is telling her to take a deep breath. Moon drags in a breath of air. Sun tells her to do it again. After a few repetitions, she can breathe normally again. “I'm sorry,” she mumbles. 

Sun tightens his arms around her. “I don't like this,” he says. “It sounds like you're being thrown into the deep end without a life preserver.” Moon disentangles herself from his arms to give Sun a withering look. He looks confused for a second before groaning. “That wasn't a pun,” he protests. “It was an accident.” 

Moon rolls her eyes. It's easier to breathe now. “Do you have any suggestions?” she asks.

“You definitely need charms that will help you breathe underwater,” Sun says. “I'll pick some up for you. And weapons. Something to defend yourself with.” 

*  
Sun insists on walking her to the Seelie Court. Moon tries to dissuade him, but she doesn't try very hard. She wants Sun with her. She feels that if Sun is with her, everything will be okay. She clutches a bag full of books, potions, salves, and other first aid supplies. After what happened with Sun, she isn't going to go anywhere empty handed again. She also has two way notebooks that she and Sun can use to communicate, and a box used to transport objects. Sun has promised to get her the charms she needs. 

In the dark of the night, Lusamine looks like a moonbeam. Something moves next to her, and for a moment Moon thinks that it's a wild animal. Then she sees that it's just Gladion. 

Moon and Sun approach. “Welcome, Moon. I trust you have everything you need?”

Moon nods. Lusamine casts her eyes towards Sun. “And Sun! I see you have made a marvelous recovery.”

Sun nods. Moon has warned him to keep his mouth shut. Lusamine's voice grows stern. “I hope you weren't bringing in outside help, Moon.”

Before Moon can even think of a protest, Sun cuts in. “Of course not. I was just accompanying Moon here. For moral support.” Lusamine purses her lips, but doesn't say anything. Moon decides they should quit while they are ahead. “Well, I'll see you later.” She tries to keep her voice cheerful. Maybe if she acts like everything is okay, it will be. But Moon knows that isn't true and she can't pretend that it is. She throws her arms around Sun. She doesn't want to do this. She doesn't know what to do. How is she supposed to figure out what's drowning people? You've done other things that seemed impossible, Moon tries to give herself a pep talk. But she'd had her brother and her friends to support her then. You will get through this, Moon tells herself firmly.

Sun hugs her back and whispers in her ear, “Good luck.”

When Sun goes to leave, Moon is reminded of a parent dropping their child off to school for the first time and fights down the urge to laugh. Then she sobers. It feels colder without Sun's presence. Lusamine begins striding down the hallway. “I've already told you both that there have been a rash of drowning deaths. I require you both to determine whether or not these deaths are supernatural.”

“And if they are?” Gladion's voice is even.

“Then act as you see fit. I trust you won't disappoint me.”

“No, my queen.”

“Very well. I have arranged transportation and accommodations for you both. Is there anything else you require?” Moon hesitates. She wants to know if Lusamine has any information about the victims and how many have drowned so she can attempt to establish a pattern. She wants to know if Lusamine is allowed to send her and Gladion to investigate. Wouldn't the police be investigating the drownings? She and Gladion aren't police. What if they get arrested for interfering in a police investigation? Then again, maybe the police had asked Lusamine to help, since the deaths may be supernatural. Moon doesn't say any of this though. It would most likely have been interpreted as another favor to be owed.

Moon doesn't say anything, and Lusamine nods. “Good.” She leads them to a door. “This door will take you to your accommodations. Once there, you will not be able to return via the door until you have solved the mystery.”

“So like a one way flight,” Moon blurts out, before she can stop herself.

“Indeed. Are you ready?” 

Moon isn't ready, but she'll never be ready. So she squares her shoulders and opens the door. She steps through and finds herself plummeting. She knows it's physically impossible, but her heart drops to her feet. Wind whips through her hair and steals her voice. Moon flails, trying to grab at something, but her hands keep grasping empty air. I'm going to die, Moon thinks, and as soon as she thinks that, her feet hit the ground. Moon feels like she's just gotten off a super fast roller coaster, one that wasn't fun and that made her want to throw up. She feels like she needs to throw up now. She takes a step and the world spins. Her stomach heaves. She can't get her heart under control. Moon stumbles until her legs bump something soft. A bed. Moon sinks down on it and wills the world to stop spinning.

After several deep breaths, Moon feels like she can sit up. She sees Gladion watching her. Moon tries to gather some dignity. “What was that?” she means for her voice to come out as interested, but calm, but it comes out as a little rasp.

Gladion gives her a bland look. “Magic,” he replies. Moon isn't sure if he's being a smart ass or honest. She decides she doesn't care. Moon suddenly remembers their last conversation. “Gladion, I'm sorry,” she says.

Gladion looks confused and a little irritated. “I don't see the purpose in you apologizing for asking what that was. It stands to reason you wouldn't have encountered that particular spell before and I can see you being curious. It's one of the less annoying questions that you've asked.”

“No, I meant for when we last met. When I yelled at you. I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have done that.” An expression of shock crosses Gladion's face, but it's quickly replaced by suspicion. “What do you want?” he demands.

“What?” Moon asks, startled. 

“You're apologizing to me. What do you want?” Moon stares for a moment, then a wave of anger and sadness wash over her. Has the only time Gladion been apologized to been because people wanted something from him? Remembering how Lusamine had treated Gladion, Moon thinks darkly that is probably the case. She wishes she had the words to convince Gladion that her apology is sincere, but she doesn't. “I don't want anything,” Moon tells Gladion sincerely. “Well, except for you to forgive me, but you don't have to do that.” 

“And that's all you want? You won't require a favor from me?” 

Moon shakes her head. “No. I'm just sorry I yelled at you. I feel bad. I shouldn't have done that.” 

Gladion doesn't say anything for a moment. “No one has ever apologized to me before.” His voice is soft. Moon can just imagine Lusamine being needlessly cruel to Gladion and not apologizing. Her fists clench. She wonders why Gladion works for Lusamine, what keeps him tethered to her. She knows he won't answer if she asks. “I accept your apology, Moon,” he says. His posture is less tense and Moon finds herself relaxing and smiling at Gladion. 

“I don't see why Lusamine asked you to help me investigate the drownings,” he says. “What use will you be?” His tone is matter of fact, so Moon doesn't take it as an insult. “I have no idea,” she admits. “Maybe she wants me to spy on you?” she jokes.

A minute later she realizes that was a mistake. “Did she?” Gladion demands. “Did she ask you to spy on me?” He crosses the room and towers over Moon. 

“Of course not!” Moon exclaims. “She didn't ask me to spy on you. It was just a joke!” Gladion doesn't say anything. Moon holds her breath. 

“I suppose she could find better spies than you,” he says at last. Relief bubbles through Moon and she laughs. Then she takes a deep breath. “Look, I don't know why she chose us to work together. Maybe Lusamine has some weird logic, but I think we should work together. Or if not together, at least not get in each other's way and not try to trip each other up.”

Gladion doesn't say anything and Moon worries for a moment that he'll say something along the lines of he doesn't need to work with her and storm off, but instead he says, “I guess I could tolerate working with you. You might surprise me and contribute something.” Moon rolls her eyes. Gladion turns to go. “I'm going to investigate Brooklet Hill,” he says. “Stay here.”

“Shouldn't I come with you? What if you get attacked?”

“I don't see how you could defend me if that turns out to be the case. And if you came with me and we were attacked, I'd have to defend you. You'll be a liability.” The words sting, but they sting like sprays meant to disinfect wounds. The words aren't meant to harm, but they hurt just the same. Moon doesn't have any magic. She can't fight. She'll be a liability to Gladion. Why did Lusamine ask her to investigate with Gladion? She can't contribute anything.

Stop it, Moon scolds herself. Feeling sorry for yourself won't solve anything. There are plenty of people who can't use magic. And you've been fine with not being able to use magic. Didn't you help end the curse on Hau? Don't your potions help people? You're going to be able to contribute. “Okay,” Moon says. “Be careful. Tell me everything that you see. I'm going to look in these books and see if I can find anything. Although I don't think we have enough evidence to come up with a theory. Tomorrow I'll see if I can establish a pattern with the drownings.”

Gladion nods and walks out the door. It occurs to Moon that she could have patched Gladion up if he did get into a fight, but it's too late to say that now. Moon takes a moment to look around the room. It's a small room, with blue carpet, beige walls with a green border. A bed with yellow and blue sheets is shoved into a corner. Only one bed, Moon thinks. And not big enough for two. She wonders if Gladion knows any magic to make a bed bigger. She puts that issue to the side for now. A desk is shoved into the corner and a television is mounted against the wall.

How did Lusamine get this room? Moon thinks. Does she own property? Moon hopes that's the case. Please be the case, Moon pleads. She doesn't want to imagine Lusamine casting a spell on some poor family and having them give up their home. I don't suppose it matters now, Moon thinks. I can deal with it later. She reaches for a book about supernatural creatures, but at the last second reaches for the notebook. Maybe Sun has written her. Sure enough, there are words written on the page. 

"Hi, Moon! Did you get settled in okay? How is everything? I want to come help. I can. You wouldn't be asking me-I'd be volunteering, so Lusamine can't say shit. And besides, for all she knows I just coincidentally happened to show up in Brooklet Hill. And supernatural creatures drowning people is something I would have been called on to investigate anyway. Let me know how I can help."

Moon stares at the book for a second, before a smile blossoms across her face. The world seems brighter. She isn't alone. The realization makes her feel braver. She grabs a pen and writes, 

"Everything is okay. For now. It's like the calm before the storm. Gladion and I are in plain room. Basic, like a hotel. He went out to investigate. I'm not sure what he expects to find."

"Maybe it will be like Rumpelstiltskin and the people responsible for doing the drownings will be singing a song about it?"

"LOL. Hopefully he'll turn up with something. I'm really not sure what to do here. I was thinking about interviewing people tomorrow, but I don't really know what I'm supposed to say. I can't really be like, “Hey, tell me about the drowning victims?”

"Pretend to be FBI agent like on Supernatural? People know about faeries, right? Can't you just say that Lusamine is asking you to investigate?"

"I did consider that. She did say to act as I see fit, but I think she was talking to Gladion. She didn't give us a lot of information."

"So she can't complain if you guys do something she doesn't like if she doesn't give you directions."

"You're operating with logic logic, not faerie logic. I'll keep you posted. I'm going to look online and see if I can figure out a pattern with the drownings. Maybe see if I can figure out what kind of creature would be drowning people, if there is one. Will talk to you when I have more info."

"Okay, love you. "

Moon closes the notebook reluctantly. Then she remembers she has research to do and grabs a book.She marks all the places that any mythical water creatures are mentioned. It's not even sorted by category, like a section for forest dwelling creatures or sea dwelling creatures, or by country of origin, or alphabetically. The organization in this book sucks, Moon thinks.

Then Moon grabs her phone so she can look up Brooklet Hill. Some creatures might be freshwater dwelling or seawater dwelling and Moon thinks that she might be able to cross some off her list. It might not even be a mythical water creature, she thinks. But if mysterious drownings were occurring, then it does make sense to assume that a water creature is doing the drowning. Then she decides to see if she can narrow it down by region. Of course, Moon thinks, mythical creatures can move regions as well. I'll narrow it down by creatures who drown she thinks, and then smirks a little at the unintentional rhyme.

Moon remembers the story Sun had told her a while ago and writes down kelpies as a potential suspect. But surely people would have noticed a horse galloping into the water with a yelling passenger on its back? Moon thinks. Then she remembers that kelpies can shapeshift into humans. But kelpies in human form can be identified by weeds in their hair and iron shoes. They probably would have figured out ways to hide that, though, Moon thinks.

She reads a bit more and writes down fosse grim. He's supposed to be a water spirit drowns women and children in streams. He lures them there with an enchanted violin. Moon writes down, “Were there any witnesses to the drownings? Did anyone hear any violin music?” Then she considers the fact that if a violin is enchanted, maybe it could be so that only the intended victim heard the song. I should look into victimology as well, Moon thinks. Then she thinks, it's not like I'm a cop or a detective or anyone trained to do this. What am I supposed to do? In a fit of anger she slams the book shut. What good will it do? She doesn't even know if she's on the right track. What does she know about any of this? The urge to scream builds up in Moon, but she forces it down. Screaming won't do any good. You've figured out stuff before, Moon tells herself. You can do it again.

She glances at the door. Would it really take so long for Gladion to go and investigate Brooklet Hill? Moon doesn't think she took too long talking to Sun and doing a little bit of light researching. A feeling of unease creeps up on her. Gladion could be hurt. What if he ran into the creature drowning people and couldn't fight it off? Moon takes a few deep breaths. He hasn't been gone that long. They (well, she) don't know the area. It might be a walk to get to Brooklet Hill. 

But Gladion can teleport or do magic stuff, couldn't he? Moon thinks. He teleported after I snapped it him that day. So if he was in trouble, he could get out of there. But suppose he got blindsided? But he could still be investigating. It's not like crime scene investigators or cops go to a crime scene and then leave twenty or thirty minutes later, do they? It probably takes time to process a scene.

Moon feels herself relaxing. Yes. That's probably it. Gladion is still investigating. There's no need for her to take a trip to Brooklet Hill as yet, even though she doesn't know where that is. 

It occurs to Moon that she doesn't even know where she is. She walks to the door Gladion walked out of and before she can get overly worried, pushes it open. She finds herself looking at a parking lot. She turns back to the building and sees it's painted white with a red roof.

It's still night. Moon thinks she can smell the sea. She walks a little further and sees more doors. So a motel, she thinks. I guess it's nice that accommodations are included, she thinks. She wonders how Gladion is coming along with his investigation.

She glances around, as though Gladion will materialize if she thinks about him. She doesn't like being alone in an unfamiliar place at night. Moon tells herself to get a grip. She's been alone at night plenty of times when she was home. She sees a sign proclaiming the place to be the Roadside Motel.

Moon begins to explore. The motel seems to be perched on a cliff. Waves crash against it and the sea looks deep and unfathomable. Unease shoots through Moon. Even though it's night and the area is well lit and there are people about, Moon can't help whirling around every few steps. She knows it's ridiculous since she's not by Brooklet Hill and knowing about a killer doesn't mean she'll be the next target. Moon's brow wrinkles as she realizes what she just thought and how stupid it sounds. She's seen plenty of movies where people are killed for knowing too much.

After a few more minutes, Moon turns in the opposite direction and begins walking. There's nothing much to see, just a road stretching out and the ocean before her The fresh air has revived her, so Moon counts that as a win. She notices a small rest stop by the motel and stops in. It's late, but there's a clerk on duty. Maybe she knows something about Brooklet Hill, Moon thinks. 

Moon doesn't get much out of the clerk, just that Brooklet Hill is a popular spot for fishing and hiking, but the route is long and winding so it's kind of difficult. She asks about any recent drownings, but the clerk doesn't say that there was anything unusual about them.

*  
When Gladion returns, Moon is sipping coffee and writing in her notebook. Two sandwiches are on the desk. Hey!” she chirps. Relief bubbles through her and she casts a glance at Gladion. He looks unharmed. “You're back! Did you learn anything?”

Gladion rolls his eyes. “You have an uncanny ability to state the obvious.” He gestures to the food. “What's this?” he asks. 

Moon tries to mimic his tone. “You have an uncanny ability to ask the obvious. It's food. I got hungry and I didn't see any food here and I didn't know how long we were going to be here and I'm a human so I need to eat.” She's about to offer Gladion a sandwich before she remembers that she'll have to be careful about how she offers it to him. “So if you see a sandwich on a table and you see no indication who it belongs to, it's cool if you eat it, right? I mean, you aren't technically being offered it, so you aren't going to have to repay a debt.”

“Technically, no.”

She turns to more practical means. “So, did you see anything? I've been researching a little bit. I looked into water monsters who drown their victims. Here are some candidates.” She passes Gladion the notebook. He takes it.

“Kelpies, kappas, grindylows, vodianoi, sirens, mermaids, fosse grim, angry drowned ghosts.” He looks at Moon. “I've heard of everything except for vodianoi and fosse grim,” he says.

“ Fosse grim drown people in streams. They lure victims using violin music. Vodianoi are water spirits who live in underwater palaces made from sunken ships. They drown humans. It's said that they take humans to serve as slaves for underwater palaces. They also might be able to transform into fish.”

Gladion hums thoughtfully. “That would be a good way to blend in,” he muses. 

Moon nods. “I thought so. They also don't like it when humans are disrespectful. I don't know what they classify as disrespectful. At first I thought maybe humans were destroying the environment to make hotels or something like that and that pissed off some supernatural creatures off. But I didn't see anything about any new developments coming at Brooklet Hill. So then I thought, water vandalism, like polluting the water or overfishing, or something like that. But most of the articles are opinions about pollution.”

“Don't humans keep records of crimes?” Gladion asks.

Moon runs a hand through her hair. “If you're asking whether I could have accessed courthouse records, I did try that, but accessing it online means I need to know the person's name, the case number, that sort of thing. And I don't know how to hack.” Moon falls silent. She's hit a dead end. Part of her hopes that Gladion has more luck than she does, but another part of her doesn't want to be the only one with no results. Stop it, she thinks. She feels cold at her thoughts. This isn't the time for petty pride. 

“I wasn't able to find much of anything at Brooklet Hill.” Gladion speaks the words grudgingly. Moon is relieved that that she doesn't feel relief at this.

“Maybe the killer was capable of cleaning up their tracks,” Moon suggests. “We have human killers who use bleach to scrub crime scenes, maybe there are ways to supernaturally clean a crime scene. I read a book about that.” 

Gladion's posture becomes less tense. “A fictional book or nonfiction about cleaning up a crime scene?” he asks. 

“Fiction,” Moon supplies. “But it might be worth looking into to see if it's possible to supernaturally cleanse a crime scene.” Then she sighs and flops back. “I might be making it a bit too complex, though. I don't know if people are being ritualistically murdered via drowning. It's possible for supernatural creatures to conceal their presence, right? Maybe they were concealing their presence from you.”

“Do you think I haven't thought of that?” Gladion snaps.

Moon holds up her hands as a gesture of surrender. “I'm sure you thought of that. I didn't mean to imply that you didn't.” They fall into silence. Moon looks up the statistics for drowning from last year in Brooklet Hill and the statistics from this year to see if she can notice anything unusual. She finds several articles stating that drowning deaths have increased by seventy percent, but when she reads on she finds those are accidental drownings, like a child left unattended near a body of water. Then she sees an article that looks promising.

As Moon clicks on the article, it occurs to her that she should eliminate other reasons for people to have drowned other than supernatural causes. “Gladion,” she asks, as she reads through the article, “did Lusamine say why she's having us investigate these drownings?”

Gladion shakes his head. Moon continues. “Because according to this article, drowning at Brooklet Hill has increased by seventy percent this year, but I don't know if she's the type to keep abreast of human drowning statistics. Does she usually take much interest in the human world?”

For a moment Gladion doesn't answer. Then he says, “It depends.”

Moon tries to think of something else to ask, to think of the question that will give her the answer she needs. She wishes she could have a eureka moment, but she doubts she'll be so lucky. “I wonder if we could get access to the bodies,” Moon muses out loud. “No, probably not. But if we could get access to the bodies, then maybe we could rule out some creatures. There has to be a difference between a person who drowned normally and a person who was attacked. And I think kelpies take their victims into the water, devour them, and then throw their entrails onto the shore.”

“Why didn't you search with the key word entrails or look up grisly murder cases? Someone must have written about it.” 

Gladion's words sink in. Moon groans in frustration and embarrassment. He's right. If people really were being killed and their entrails tossed into the shore, people would be talking about it. There would be articles written, news broadcasts, maybe a curfew and police presence. Why did Lusamine send her to do this? She can understand Gladion, but why her? What did Lusamine think she could contribute? Was this a trap? Was Lusamine giving her an impossible task on purpose so that she would fail?

“Moon.” Gladion's voice is sharp and slices through her like a knife. “Focus. People are dying.” Moon takes a deep breath. Gladion is right. She can wonder at Lusamine's motives and have all the self doubt she wants after they take care of this. She smiles slightly at Gladion. “I'm glad you're here,” she tells him.

Gladion turns away. “You don't have to waste your ability to lie,” he snaps. Moon blinks at Gladion, confused. “No, I mean it!” she exclaims, ignoring his grunt of disbelief. “I wouldn't have thought about how there would have been articles written if victims really did have their entrails tossed onto the riverbank. It's good to have someone to bounce ideas off of. Well, it is for me.”

Gladion hesitates for a moment, then he moves closer. He hovers at the edge of the bed. “I don't mind if you sit down,” she tells him. Moon doesn't think that he will, but Gladion surprises her. He perches on the end of the bed, his body stiff. “What about the vodianoi?” he asks. “They supposedly take their victims to underwater palaces. Doesn't that mean a body wouldn't be left behind?”

“You're right!” Moon exclaims. “I saw it mentioned in an article about water safety that bodies do tend to go missing on large pieces of water. It's generally assumed that they drowned. I suppose it's possible that they were taken to be slaves in an underwater palace, and I'm pretty sure people would notice if there's an underwater palace, so it's obviously disguised if there is one.”

Moon grabs a notebook and begins writing this down. “Any other theories?” she asks. “Come on, don't be shy. I think we should also try to eliminate non supernatural reasons for an increase in drownings as well. People do drown and after reading these articles it seems drowning is more common than I thought. Here, take a look at this.”

Gladion shifts a bit closer. “What does it say?” he asks.

Moon reads out loud. “It says drownings have increased at Brooklet Hill. But it says that they weren't wearing life jackets and Brooklet Hill isn't technically designated for swimming. And they could be unaware of hidden dangers like dropoffs or riptides or things like that. And they might overestimate their capabilities.”

“So it could be chalked up to simple recklessness,” Gladion says. 

“Yeah. But I'm going to check the articles again and see if there was any mentions of the bodies being mutilated.”

“Don't forget to look to see if the bodies were recovered,” Gladion suggests. “That could be suspicious. We can just focus on bodies that weren't recovered or were mutilated.” 

Moon nods and grabs her notebook to begin taking notes. Realization hits her and she groans out loud. “I'm an idiot!” she exclaims.

Gladion raises an eyebrow. “Are you saying that so I will dispute the fact?” he asks.

Moon rolls her eyes. “I'm not fishing for compliments.” She pauses as what she said sinks in and wonders if that's a pun. “I just realized my brother talked with a girl who tamed a kelpie.”

Gladion's eyes widened. “Why didn't you mention that before?” he snaps.

Moon isn't in the mood for this. “Because I forgot!” she snaps back. “Do you think I was withholding the information because I thought it would be funny? I honestly forgot! I told you I was an idiot!'

“No arguments here,” Gladion mutters. Moon takes several deep breaths until she can say something that isn't a curse word. “Anyway, he says that the kelpie was drowning people. I can ask him to ask her what the bodies looked like.”

“He didn't mention the fact that the entrails were tossed onto the shore? I find that hard to believe.”

Moon chooses to ignore this. “If I tell Sun about this, you won't rat me out to Lusamine, will you? She was very clear that outside help isn't permitted.” 

Moon freezes as it suddenly occurs to her that Lusamine could have spies. She could have used magic to bug the room. What if Lusamine is going to appear right now to exact punishment? Or what if she's going to wait until Moon and Gladion get back before revealing that Moon collaborated with Sun? Moon's heart begins to race. Calm down, she tells herself sternly. Deep breaths. She realizes she hasn't gotten an answer from Gladion. From the interactions she's had with him, she doesn't think he's the type to be a snitch, but she doesn't know him well enough to say that he won't be. The seconds tick by. It's amazing how long ten seconds can be.

Gladion shakes his head. “I don't have a desire to spy on you for Lusamine or rat you out as you say. It would be a waste not to speak to someone who has encountered a kelpie. She could tell us what to look for.”

Moon exhales a sigh of relief. She manages not to say thank you. She assumes this means she'll have to keep one of Gladion's secrets now. Moon smirks a bit at the idea of Gladion telling Moon any of his secrets. Moon sees Gladion look at her, and forestalls any possible questions by saying, “Okay, I'll contact Sun and ask him to tell me about the kelpie case. Maybe he can put me in contact with the girl who defeated the kelpie.” 

She doesn't know if it's wise to give out Hapu's name. “Then I'm going to go through the articles again and see if there's anything unusual about the drownings, like bodies being mutilated or numerous bodies not being found.” As a game plan, it seems pretty weak, but Moon can't think of a better one.

“I'm going to go back to Brooklet Hill in the morning,” Gladion says. “There might be something I've missed.”

“Do you mind if I go along?” Moon asks.

“What do you think that you'll see that I won't?” There's only a blunt curiosity in Gladion's voice, so Moon doesn't take it too personally. She shrugs. “I don't know. I'm not knocking your skills or anything. Maybe I'll come up with a theory of my own. Maybe it'll be like when two people watch clouds and they both see different things.”

Gladion rolls his eyes and Moon assumes it's at her metaphor. “Fine. You can come, but stay out of my way.” 

Moon agrees easily enough. She gets to work looking at articles and bookmarking any that seems unusual. She glances at Gladion, feeling a sense of relief that he's with her. He might not be the most friendly, but he is familiar and there's comfort in that. There are probably worse faeries to partner with than him. He's already made good suggestions about articles being written if bodies were mutilated and how it might be unusual if bodies weren't recovered. That had been a plot of Supernatural, Moon thinks suddenly. Sam and Dean had been investigating a lake because there had been drownings with no bodies recovered. Moon supposes the logic is sound. Honestly, if people drown, her first thought isn't supernatural interference. 

She tries not to get attached to any particular theories. Having tunnel vision won't do. She needs to keep an open mind, or she might miss something. She'll test out various theories. She hopes she won't fall into the trap of rearranging the evidence to fit her theories instead of letting the evidence speak for itself. 

Tomorrow we'll go to Brooklet Hill, Moon thinks. I'll find a library and do some more research. Then I think I should interview people, except am I supposed to find out if there were witnesses to any drownings in a certain time frame. What is the time frame for these drownings, anyway? When Lusamine said recent, how recent did she mean? I always thought supernatural creatures would have a warped sense of time. 

And drowning happens really quickly and it's not like in the movies were people have all the time in the world to scream and yell for help. And again, if there was a monster or something like Nessie, people would have noticed it. Except supernatural creatures can disguise themselves and they can cover their tracks. I wonder if I'll see anything when I go to Brooklet Hill tomorrow. There's just so many variables to consider.

Moon takes a deep breath. Narrow them down. Make a plan, she tells herself. Go to Brooklet Hill tomorrow. Maybe you'll find something that gives you a clue. Lusamine said to see if the drownings were supernatural. Maybe they aren't. Maybe this is just regular increase in drownings because of overconfidence, lack of parental supervision, lack of knowledge about water safety. But if something really is drowning people, then she and Gladion will figure it out. And they'll stop it.


	8. Chapter 8

Moon isn't sure when she manages to fall asleep. She just remembers waking up sprawled on the bed with her face against her notebook. She looks at the sentence she fell asleep writing and frowns. What had been her train of thought? She can't remember. She has vague memories of dreams about the water and everything working out okay, but when she tries to recall her dreams they dissolve like sugar in hot tea.  
She looks around for Gladion and sees him at the desk, examining the box. “Sun send me anything?” she asks. 

Gladion turns around. “He sent you breathing charms,” he replies. “And an iron dagger.” He looks at Moon seriously. “Do you know how to use the dagger?”

Saying stick people with the pointy end sounds childish, so Moon refrains. On the other hand, she really doesn't know much about knife fighting besides sticking something with the pointy end. She decides to just admit to it. “I can't do much beyond stabbing them,” she admits.

Gladion's mouth turns up. “In some cases, that could be considered adequate. And it's iron, so that should help against a good bit of creatures if you manage to land a hit.” He pauses for a moment. “But in the event of a battle, stay out of my way. I won't be able to fight and look after you at the same time.” Moon agrees readily enough and hopes it won't come to a fight. She hopes that the drownings is just a result of carelessness and poor water safety.

Moon checks the two way notebook to see if Sun has written back. She can't remember asking him to tell her about the kelpies, but she must have. Sun has written that the kelpie wasn't tossing entrails back onto the shore and they knew it was a kelpie because the kelpie had lured a group of children to the water, but one child had fallen behind. Moon's blood runs cold at the image.

“So, Sun's kelpie was not tossing entrails onto the shore, so I guess it might not be a thing all kelpies do,” Moon says. “I think I wrote down the names of drowning victims whose bodies were never recovered. Do you want to do day time recon at Brooklet Hill first and then interview surviving family members of the victims? Actually, I'm not sure how to talk to surviving family members. I'm a random person-it's not like I can just go up to them and ask, “Tell me how your loved one died. Then again, there has to be be people around at Brooklet Hill. Maybe someone saw something. And honestly, I just don't feel comfortable interviewing people about loved one's death. And I'm a random person, so again, why would they talk to me? Does Lusamine have jurisdiction over supernatural crimes? Like if a member of her court breaks the treaty and attacks a human, what then? Is it like in the human world where a criminal gets extradited to their own country? But anyway, do you want to go back to Brooklet Hill? See if things look different in the daytime?”

Gladion just grunts. Moon rolls her eyes. “I can't translate your grunts well enough to know if that's a yes or a no,” she tells him.

In answer, Gladion steps closer. “ Brooklet Hill is far. It'll be easier if I teleport us,” he says. “Will that be a problem?”

Moon shakes her head.

“Do you have everything you need?” Moon grabs her bag, stuffs everything she needs into it, and nods. Gladion reaches out his hand. “May I?” he asks. At Moon's nod, he takes her hand. Moon has a split second to register that his hands are calloused before she feels a swooping sensation in her stomach. She closes her eyes. The next thing she knows, she's standing next to a rest stop like the one by the Roadside Motel. She turns to look at Gladion and sees that he looks pale. “Does teleporting take a lot out of you?” she asks. 

“I'll be fine,” Gladion replies. “Come on. It's this way.” 

Gladion leads Moon down wooden steps. Moon feels adrenaline surge through her. This is it. She clutches her bag, her body tense. Maybe she can use it as a weapon. Gladion said he didn't see anything last night, Moon tells herself. But what if there was something attacking people and it could conceal its presence? Hadn't Gladion said that it was possible for other magical creatures to disguise their presence? What if they got blindsided again?

“I didn't bring you here to stand there and stare into space,” Gladion's voice rings out. Moon starts. 

“Sorry,” she mutters.

Gladion reaches out, but at the last moment pulls his hand back. “Are you-do you-” he takes a deep breath. “You probably won't find anything I didn't. There's really no need for you to be here.” Moon's hackles rise. She isn't useless. Just because she doesn't have magic or doesn't know how to fight-she opens her mouth to tell Gladion this, but then she takes a closer look at him. His expression is...unsure? Moon can't read it, but he doesn't look impatient or irritated. Her anger cools. Maybe he wasn't trying to insult her. Embarrassment creeps through her at how quick she was to anger. 

“I'm fine,” she says, and tries to make her voice sound firm. “I'm just-” She cuts herself off. She doesn't think Gladion wants to hear about how she still might feel afraid after the attack. You and Sun have been attacked before, Moon reminds herself. But they've always managed to get away relatively unscathed. You can get scared later, Moon tells herself. She tries to think of something to distract herself. “Do you think it might be a Jenny Greenteeth?” she asks. She'd forgotten about them until now. 

Gladion frowns. “Don't they usually drown children and the elderly? Were there any children or elderly on the list?” He strides off and Moon hurries to keep up with him. 

“There were more children than elderly, but with children it could just be a case of no parental supervision. I mean, people drown scarily quick. I also looked to see if I could find any commonality between the victims whose bodies weren't recovered, and can't really find anything. So I don't know if they're being targeted or no.”

“If something is drowning them, it could just be a crime of opportunity,” Gladion suggests.

“Good point.” Moon pauses and looks around. While she was talking, Gladion had walked away from the steps and onto a wooden jetty that stretched across the water. Slate gray water and a light drizzle of rain give the place a gloomy look. She realizes that as she was talking about her theories, her fear had been pushed to the side and she was able to follow Gladion. Moon wonders if Gladion did it on purpose, but his face doesn't reveal anything.

Moon takes a deep breath. She refrains from putting on her magic glasses. She figures it would be kind of redundant to use them since Gladion could see anything magic. And she'd wanted to see if there was anything she could pick up with her human eyes. Maybe Gladion had been so focused on finding traces of magical creatures that he overlooked something. 

She's here now. She's not being attacked. Now she just has to figure out what to look for. She'd wanted to come to Brooklet Hill so she could investigate, but she has no idea what to look for. She'd had a vague idea of knowing what she was looking for instinctively, but she sees how stupid that idea is. When she lets out a huff of frustration, Gladion remarks, “Still think it was a good idea to come here?”

“If you have any better ideas, please tell me,” Moon snaps. Then she feels regret. It's not Gladion's fault that she thought things would be easier than what they are. “Sorry,” she says. “I shouldn't have snapped. “But for real, do you have any better ideas? Because I don't?”

“I would explore Brooklet Hill more thoroughly before getting frustrated,” Gladion responds dryly. 

Moon rolls her eyes and is about to respond when she notices the ripples in the water. “Gladion,” she says sharply, and before Moon can do anything, he dives into the water.

Moon runs to the edge of the jetty and looks down. The water is murky and she can't see Gladion anywhere. Images of being tugged into the water by an undead child flash through her mind. Or maybe there's a giant shark and it will attack the jetty and smash it to smithereens. Get a grip, Moon orders herself. She clutches a charm to give her air underwater and her dagger. That should give her a fighting chance if something drags her under. 

It might be nothing, Moon tells herself. Ripples don't have to mean anything. It could just mean that there are fish here. That's probably what this is. But I thought that maybe if there was something here, other animals would have sensed it and steered clear. That's happened a few times with some of the creatures Sun has dealt with. Maybe the ripples means that if there is something here, it left and the animals returned. Or maybe there's something here right now. She grips the dagger and charm even tighter.

How long can Gladion hold his breath? Moon thinks. She hates not being able to see what's happening. For all she knows, Gladion could be battling something underwater. Moon scans the water for signs of a struggle or blood, but sees nothing. Just as she's about to dive into the water, Gladion pops back up. He's carrying a blue seal in his arms. Moon frowns. She's pretty sure seals aren't supposed to be blue. On a hunch, she puts on the glasses. Gladion now has a young girl with blue hair in his arms. Moon frowns for a minute. Then she remembers the stories. “Selkies!” she exclaims. Wait, did selkies drown people? All Moon can remember is that they can transform into seals and lots of the stories involved a human taking the selkie's skin and trapping them in a relationship. Then Moon notices the selkie is unconscious and has gashes on her body, and instinct kicks in.

Moon reaches out to help pull Gladion and the selkie out of the water. She looks around, her body tense. “What happened?” she demands. “Was the selkie attacked? Did you see what did it? Is it still around?”

“If whatever attacked the selkie was around, don't you think I would have taken care of it?” Gladion asks. 

Moon relaxes marginally at that. Then she remembers that there's an injured selkie and bends to examine her. Aside from the gashes, the selkie also has slight bump on her head. 

“Do you have any experience patching up magical creatures?” Gladion asks.

Moon nods distractedly. “A bit. Sun was the type to try and bring a few injured creatures home. Unfortunately, not all of them make good pets, so best I could do was just patch them up and send them back into the wild again.” 

Gladion is silent for a moment. Moon looks at the gashes. They'll need stitches. She frowns. It's not advisable to stitch wounds in the wilderness because of cleanliness issues and the possibilities of infection. She mentions this to Gladion. “Do you need me to take you back to the motel?” he asks. 

“If you wouldn't mind. I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be annoying or anything but it's really not recommended that that you stitch a wound up in the wild if you can help it. But you don't have to take me back to the motel. I can walk. You can keep investigating.”

“Shut up,” Gladion says bluntly. “You're being an idiot. I'll take you and the selkie back to the motel.” He holds out his hand. Moon takes it. A minute later, they find themselves in front of the motel. Moon turns to Gladion. Instinct pushes her to say thank you, but she knows how well that would go down. “You don't have to stick around,” she tells him. Gladion just snorts and follows her inside.

Moon goes to wash her hands and make sure her supplies are sterile. When she's satisfied, she begins stitching up the wounds. The selkie doesn't move. Moon frowns at that. “So, tell me what happened when you found the selkie,” she says. Was it there last night?”

“Obviously it wasn't, otherwise I would have mentioned it to you,” Gladion says irritably. Moon flushes. She deserved that. She thinks of something else. “Maybe she was disguised last night?” she suggests. “Is there a home field advantage? You know, since selkies are water creatures and they do magic in the water, it becomes even more powerful? Or they have techniques you don't know?”

Gladion hums thoughtfully. “It is a possibility.” Moon isn't sure if he's answering one or all of her questions.

As Moon stitches the injured selkie, she feels herself relaxing. This is familiar. This she knows how to do. This time she's actually capable of helping someone. Once she's finished with the task, she gets to work making something to treat the head wound. A thought crosses her mind and she must make a face because Gladion is asking, “What's wrong now?”  
“What if the selkie has family and they're mad we took her?” she asks.

Gladion looks unimpressed. “I didn't see anyone there. And before you tell me that they could have been hiding, they had ample time to stop me once I took this selkie. And if they are angry we took her, I can hold them off long enough for you to explain we meant no harm.”

Gladion's logic relaxes her. Something else occurs to Moon. “Why were you able to sense the selkie now?”

“She didn't have on a glamour,” Gladion replies. “I assume it dropped when she was unconscious. That can happen with young faeries.” 

Moon nods. “Where did you find her? Was she just floating in the water unconscious?”

“She was over by an underwater tunnel. It was a bunch of rocks sticking up like a volcano, and I thought I could sense something, but I thought making sure the selkie got medical attention was more important. I can investigate the tunnel later.”

“The selkie might also be a lead,” Moon says. “Maybe she's seen something.”

She finishes stitching up the selkie. The selkie is still unconscious. Moon supposes that might be a blessing in disguise since getting stitches can be painful. But she wants to monitor the selkie in case something happens. She's treated the head wound as well, but she knows head wounds are no joke. She doesn't know how Gladion will take this, if he'll think that she's trying to get out of figuring out what's going on. When Moon brings it up, Gladion just rolls his eyes and says that she should stick to what she's good at and he'll stick to what he's good at. He goes back to Brooklet Hill. Moon assumes that maybe he's had a flash of inspiration.

*  
Moon isn't sure if it's fine for the selkie to be out of the water so long in her seal form. She's looked up whether or not seals can live out of water and that took longer than expected because the first two sites wouldn't let her look up basic information without subscribing. Finally she finds out that seals can live out of water perfectly fine and feels a bit better. As she waits for the selkie to wake up, other thoughts swirl in Moon's head. If the selkie did have a home in Brooklet Hill and it was disguised as Gladion insinuated, then maybe there are other things in Brooklet Hill that are also disguised. Maybe there are ways to see through them. Would she be able to see through them using her glasses? But the better thing to do would be to find a magic detector. That way they might be able to find a lair.

She's distracted by her thoughts by the selkie waking up. She thrashes awake, and Moon hurries over to restrain her as gently as possible. “Hey, it's okay.” She keeps her voice soothing. “You were injured, but I patched you up. Don't move around too much, we don't want the stitches to tear.” She waits a moment to see if the selkie understands. She's never been crystal clear on how much a shapeshifter understands when they're in animal form. Hau hadn't understood much, but that could have been because he was forcibly cursed. 

The selkie stops moving, and Moon isn't sure if she understands her or if it's coincidence. Then she realizes the logical solution. “Can you understand me?” The selkie doesn't say anything. Moon tries again. “Look, I know you're a selkie. Don't worry, if you were keeping it a secret or something, I'm not going to say anything. But I just need to ask you a few questions. Actually, maybe just two for right now. Were you attacked?”

The selkie nods. It's weird to see a seal nodding. Moon tries to keep her focus. “Did you see what attacked you?” A head shake. Moon mutters under her breath. Of course it couldn't be that easy. Then again, even if the selkie being attacked is concerning, there's no actual evidence that what had attacked her is the one drowning people, if there is something drowning people. Moon decides it's worth a shot to ask. “Have you heard of people being drowned here?” Another headshake. Moon holds back a sigh. It's not the selkie's fault she didn't see anything. 

“Do you have family? Anyone to look out for you?” Moon asks. 

Another nod. 

“Okay. So we'll take you back home when my friend gets back.” Moon tries not to get her hopes up, but maybe the other selkies will know more about what attacked them and mysterious drownings. T Moon isn't sure if they'll be willing to talk. Maybe the fact that she helped one of their own will earn some goodwill. Or maybe Gladion will know how to bribe them. Or maybe they'll be willing to talk, no strings attached, Moon thinks hopefully. It occurs to her that she might have to do a whole bunch of yes or no questions, or make up different signals. Moon knows selkies can transform into humans, but she isn't sure if asking one in seal form to transform into a human is taboo. She thinks she's heard stories about returning a selkie's coat was a marriage proposal, but that's completely useless knowledge.

I might not be able to investigate with Gladion, but I can at least work on a few new theories, Moon thinks. It turns out working on theories is like having writer's block for essays in school, except worse. The only thing at stake then was a failing grade. Lives are at stake now. Moon has a brand new respect for anyone who investigates crimes or anything, now. It's harder than it looks. Of course Moon didn't think it was easy, but the point is really driven home.

*  
When Gladion gets back, he has an expression that looks odd. Moon takes a moment to recognize that his face isn't set in his usual scowl. Instead he has a thoughtful expression on his face. “What's up?” she asks. Thoughtful is a better expression than angry. Angry means a dead end, but thoughtful means that they can work through whatever is going on. Or that Gladion thinks they can work through it. 

He glances at the selkie. “She's awake,” he says. “Has she spoken to you?”

Moon shakes her head. “She's been in seal form. I wasn't sure if it's taboo to ask them to transform.”

“It doesn't matter. We need her to answer a few questions.”

Moon frowns at Gladion. “Have some tact, will you? She's just a kid.” 

Gladion rolls his eyes. “I'm not a completely insensitive brute, you know.” Moon wishes she can raise an eyebrow, because raising both just ruins the skeptical expression she's going for. “You might be an exception,” he admits, and Moon smiles in spite of herself. But despite her misgivings, Gladion's voice is gentle as he crouches down next to the selkie. He talks for a few moments, reassuring her. She shows him where Moon had stitched her up. Moon feels a warm glow when Gladion says she did a good job. “We need to ask you a few questions,” Gladion says. “Can you transform and talk to us?”

There's a moment of silence. Then the selkie slowly nods. Despite the fact that she had limited success, maybe it will be better with Gladion. The selkie seems to be responding to him. In place the seal is a young girl with blue hair. A coat is draped over her body. Gladion smiles. “I like your coat,” he tells her. “Did you decorate it yourself?” As Moon looks closer, she sees that the coat is decorated with shells. She didn't know selkies could decorate their coats. She always thought it was a part of them. Maybe it's the equivalent of a tattoo.

Moon watches as Gladion listens patiently as the selkie tells him all about finding the shells. He doesn't do the thing she's seen adults do with children-the thing where they're overly animated and exuberant. Rather, he has a reassuring energy to him. Gladion listens for a few more moments before interrupting. “Do you want to go home?”

The selkie nods. 

“I think I saw your home when I pulled you out of the water,” Gladion tells her. “Is that it?”

The selkie nods. “You won't be able to get in.”

“Why not?” he asks.

“Secret entrance.” 

“Can you show me?”  
“It's a secret.” She says this like it was completely obvious and Gladion is an idiot for not understanding that.

“I'm a good secret keeper,” Gladion assures her. The selkie still looks doubtful so he hastens to add, “I promise not to tell. You know faeries can't break promises, right?” The selkie nods solemnly. Then she looks at Moon. “I won't tell, either,” Moon assures her. The selkie still looks doubtful. Moon doesn't know what to say to reassure her. She hates doing it, but she tells Gladion, “Do you think it would be better if you took her back to her family without me? I don't want to intrude or anything. Maybe they'd be willing to meet somewhere and talk.”

The selkie interrupts. “My family isn't at home.”

“Where did they go?” Moon asks. 

“They left.” The selkie replies. Moon bites back a surge of impatience. She knows she shouldn't feel impatient. “Do you know where they left to go?” Gladion asks.

“The new home,” the selkie replied. 

“Do you know where the new home is?” Gladion asks. 

The selkie shakes her head and Moon resists the urge to sigh. Gladion is right. She is getting too impatient. Just think of this like one of your experiments, Moon coaches herself. You didn't always succeed on the first try but that didn't stop you. Science isn't always glamorous. The pep talk isn't the most inspiring one, but it does the job. “Why were you guys moving?” Moon asks. “Do you think your family might be looking for you at the old home?”

“The monster was waking up,” the selkie says, and Moon frowns at that. She remembers what the selkie had said about being attacked. “Was the monster the one who attacked you?” she asks. Maybe there's a clue here after all.

The glimmer of hope dies when the selkie replies, “No. The monster wasn't all the way awake. We had to leave before it woke up.”

“Were you leaving when you were attacked?” Gladion asks. 

The selkie nods. Her lip begins to tremble. “We were leaving but then there was a bunch of noise and I couldn't see anything and something was scratching me and I got separated from mom and my sisters and then something hit me on the head and when I woke up no one was there and my head really hurt and I couldn't keep my eyes open and.....” her voice trails off. Gladion puts a protective arm around her. “You're safe now,” he assures her. “We'll take you back to your family.”

Moon frowns as a thought occurs to her. “If whatever attacked her wasn't the monster, what do you think did? And if the home is secret and they had glamours on like you said, how was she seen to be attacked?” Gladion frowns thoughtfully. 

*  
They debate the next course of action. Moon wants to go to the selkie's old home. Maybe her family had come looking for her there. There could be clues to where the new home was supposed to be. And the talk about the monster was one of the most promising leads they had. Gladion vetoes the suggestion, rightfully pointing out that they'll be going somewhere there's supposed to be a monster and for all they know, the people that attacked the selkie are still there and Gladion can't protect both of them. In fairness, he doesn't outright state he can't protect them. He just says something about having to deal with two liabilities.

Moon points out again that the mysterious monster is the best lead to supernatural drownings they've got. Gladion argues that the monster is asleep and asks if she plans to wake up the monster and ask if it's drowning people. Moon admits he has a point. “We need to get her home,” Gladion says. “That's a priority. Moon agrees. They've asked her again and again if she knew where her family might be, but she doesn't.

“We could try a tracking charm,” Moon suggests.

“We'd need something of the family's to do that,” Gladion points out. But an idea is dawning on Moon. “Maybe we don't need that,” she points out. “I was reading a book where these brothers were trying to track down an evil magician. And so one of the brother's did a spell to track him down. Since one of the brothers was actually the sort of son of the evil magician (it's complicated) they used his blood to track him. The basic principle was following people and blood calling to blood, so since the magician's kid was doing the spell, they got a location.” Moon hopes her warbled explanation makes sense. Judging by Gladion's unimpressed face, it doesn't. Then Moon realizes that Gladion usually looks unimpressed with her and relaxes.

“Look, the point is, we can use the selkie's DNA to track the family.”

“You're going to take the word of a fictional book?” Gladion asks. 

“Unless you want to go back to the old home and look around for clues, I don't see a better option. Unless you want to put up missing posters for her. But do you think the selkies would take human form to look for her? Because then I guess we could put up missing posters in town. Or go to the police. But again, is there some sort of jurisdiction for supernatural crimes? But seriously, aren't there any spells to track families or relatives?”

Gladion clenches his fists. “They don't always work.”

Moon wants to ask more, but Gladion's clenched fists and taut line of his back discourage any questions. She tries to think of something to say. Eventually she settles on, “Just because something didn't work once is no reason not to try again. There would be no progress in the world if people simply gave up trying after a few failures.

“It wasn't a few failures!” Gladion snaps. Moon recoils. She suddenly gets the impression that this is about something much deeper for Gladion. She tries to think of the right words to apologize and to reassure him. But before she can gather them, Gladion speaks with a tinge of bitterness. “Haven't you heard the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?”

“Haven't you heard that if you don't succeed try try again until you get it right?” Gladion doesn't respond. Moon doesn't want to outright badger him into doing the spell. The way he reacted-she figures there's something going on. But now might not be the time to reach out. Moon brainstorms other ideas to reunite the selkie with her family. So far she's come up with three plans. The first plan is to put up missing fliers in town. The second plan is to put up missing fliers underwater. The third plan is to take the selkie around Brooklet Hill and see if her memories can be jogged. Moon wishes the family would have told the selkie where they were going, but she doesn't blame them. They probably didn't count on being separated.

“How did that spell work?” Gladion asks suddenly. “They used blood to track the magician.”

Moon nods. 

“Anything else?” Gladion asks.

“I think they used a special knife. But again, this is a fictional spell. But I think the concept of being able to track someone using their relative's DNA is solid enough.”

“Does she have to bleed?” Gladion asks. 

Moon sees the protective look Gladion is giving the selkie. She doesn't want to cut the selkie unless it's necessary, either. She supposes she can always just prick a finger to squeeze out a tiny droplet of blood if it comes to it, but the thought of doing even that to someone who has been attacked doesn't sit right with her. “Hair should be fine.” Moon tells Gladion.

Gladion gets to work preparing the spell while Moon looks over the injuries again. She doesn't see anything that would cause her to worry. “Are you a doctor?” the selkie asks. 

Moon shakes her head. “I'm a library assistant.”

The selkie shakes her head. “What's that?”

“It means I help out at a library.” Moon wonders if the selkie knows what a library is. Do they even have books underwater? Maybe they do. Moon tries to think back to all the movies about underwater she's seen and if they have books. They probably do, Moon thinks to herself. Maybe they have water proof books or something. 

“What do you do there?” the selkie asks.   
“Put books in the right place.”

The selkie looks disappointed. “Is that all?”

Moon nods. “Sorry.”

The selkie looks thoughtful for a moment. “Do you know any stories?” she asks. 

Moon nods. 

“I had a bracelet I made out of shells,” the selkie tells her. “I can't get it because it's at home and I can't go home again. But once I find my family I can make you a bracelet. And you can tell me a story.”

“I can tell you a story now and you can make me the bracelet later,” Moon tells the selkie. She isn't sure why the selkie has warmed up to her all of a sudden. Maybe it's because Gladion is preoccupied. Maybe she was just shy before. Moon decides not to dwell on it. She tells the selkie a story as she waits for Gladion to finish the spell. “I need a piece of your hair,” he tells the selkie. “It'll help us find your family.” The selkie plucks a string of hair without question and gives it to Gladion. Nothing happens. 

Gladion gives Moon a look. “Try, try again,” she reminds him. “Maybe the more hair the spell has, the more powerful? Maybe she should try spitting? That's a form of DNA.” Gladion gives her an incredulous look. “Are you suggesting we track someone's relatives using saliva?” he asks. 

“Cops use saliva samples all the time!” Moon defends herself. Then she remembers something about the book. She turns to the selkie. “Can you focus really hard on your family?” The selkie nods and squeezes her eyes shut. Again, the spell does nothing. Moon tries to think. There are probably ways to block a tracking spell. She wonders if there are ways to strengthen it. She tries to think back to any books she's read about magical tracking, but she's drawing a blank. She's used to the long wait for results during experiments, but this is different. 

“How did you make the spell?” Moon asks. “Maybe if we alter a variable or something...” She has the urge to talk to Sophocles about this. He might have some ideas. But then again, it would be rude to call him up just because she needs something. She also doesn't want to get him involved in this. Moon grabs her phone and begins to search tracking spells. Maybe she'll get inspiration. She sees one variation where a pendulum is held over a map and it should point to the correct location. She also sees another version where a map is set on fire, but unless the ashes are going to show the location, that seems counterproductive. Moon considers getting tracker dogs, but there's the slight problem of finding them and training them.

Moon closes her eyes. Maybe inspiration would strike her like a bolt of lightning. Well, maybe not lightning because then she'd be dead. “What's that spell supposed to do?” she asks Gladion.

“It's supposed to reveal a location,” he replies tersely. 

“I saw a show where they said something in Latin when they were scrying for someone,” Moon offers. 

“That's really useful,” Gladion snaps. “After a pause, he asks for the words. Moon tells him, but it doesn't work.

Moon wonders which will piss Gladion off more- suggesting tracker dogs or suggesting that they go back to the old home again. It suddenly occurs to Moon that even if they did get a location, they might not know where it is or how to get there. Gladion is just using a metal bowl. It's not like he has a map where the location will be written. Can Gladion teleport to a place if he hasn't been there? How does it work? Moon files the question away for later.

An idea suddenly hits Moon. Maybe they should try having the spell lead the selkie to her family. She has the image of a dowsing rod in mind. When she explains the idea to Gladion, he nods. Moon makes a clumsy bracelet using metal and strands of hair from the selkie. “It's not as nice as the bracelet you said you'll make me,” she tells the selkie, “but we're hoping this will help you find your family.” The selkie slides the bracelet on. “I think it's getting warmer,” she tells Moon. Moon tries not to get her hopes up. “So it's like that game hot and cold,” she says. 

“How do you play?” the selkie asks. 

“Someone hides something somewhere and someone searches for it. If they're getting farther away, the person says they're getting cold and if they're getting close the person who hid the item says they're getting warmer.”

Gladion gives Moon a look. “So we're just supposed to wander around and hope the bracelet will get hot?” he asks. 

Moon doesn't answer. Maybe there's a way to enhance the spell. She still hasn't found a way to do that for Sophocles's invisibility cloak. “I suppose it's progress,” Gladion sighs. “At least we should have an indicator of whether or not we're going in the right direction. What were you hoping for the spell to do?”

“Drag us in the right direction,” Moon replies. Then in case it wasn't clear enough, she adds, “I mean that literally.”

An idea suddenly hits Moon. She rushes into the bathroom and grabs some of the towels she used to wipe up the blood from the selkie's injuries. The selkie eyes it with disgust. “What's that for?” she asks. 

Moon doesn't reply. She feels suspended in time. It's like that when she's hit a dead end when she's doing an experiment and then inspiration strikes and Moon is afraid to do anything else but hold her breath and hope her idea works. She takes the bracelet from the selkie, cuts off a portion with the most blood on the towel, and ties it to the bracelet. She gives it back to the selkie, who looks grossed out but still puts it on. “Are you sure this will help me find my family?” she asks.

Gladion and Moon speak at the same time. “No.”

“ I hope so.” 

“Try visualizing your family again,” Moon advises. “Think of something leading you to them, like it's pulling you along.” The selkie closes her eyes. Nothing happens for a moment. Moon stifles a sigh. So her new idea was a bust. She wonders if they need fresh blood for the spell. She knows she's basing the tracking spell on a fictional book, but according to Gladion tracking spells are a thing and maybe they don't always require blood. Moon tries to think of all the movies she's seen where loved ones are separated and they go on a long journey to reunite. 

She's startled out of her thoughts by the selkie giving a loud yelp and running out the door. “Something's pulling me!” she yells. Gladion is able to catch up with her easily. He lifts her up, ignoring her struggles, and removes the bracelet from her. “It looks like the tracking spell worked after all,” he says. The corner of his lips tilt upward a fraction in what's probably a smile, but it's gone too fast for Moon to tell. She smiles at Gladion. “Looks like it,” she agrees. “Why don't we pack a few supplies? We have no idea what we're walking into.”

Gladion agrees. He gathers most of his weapons. Moon gathers her medical supplies, some food, the breathing charms, her magic glasses, and the weapons Sun gave her. The selkie puts on the bracelet at Gladion's nod and is tugged off again. Thanks to having longer legs, Gladion and Moon are easily able to keep pace with her. Gladion is having an easier time than Moon, though.

*  
Gladion grumbles when he sees the tracking spell has lead them to Brooklet Hill. “If I'd known that the spell would lead us to Brooklet Hill, I could have teleported us.”

The selkie continues running. Moon checks in on her frequently, to make sure she isn't getting too tired. Moon's mouth is dry and her legs ache. Her breathing is faster than usual. Still, Gladion and the selkie aren't breathing hard or voicing any complaint, so Moon resolves to remain silent. She follows the selkie through grass that scratches at her calves. She sees the palm trees towering over them and the berries piled underneath the palm tree. Moon feels a twinge of hunger but pushes it down. She's fine. 

The tracking spell is determined to lead them on a wild goose chase. The selkie backtracks numerous times. Moon isn't sure why. Part of her wonders if the tracking spell is sensing the movements of the selkie's family and they were doing that to throw off the scent. The selkie guides them over hills that keep winding up and down. As she climbs down the hill, Moon gets the feeling that she's going to fall.   
The tracking spell leads them through numerous lakes like the one she and Gladion met the selkie. The water isn't overly cold, but Moon still shivers as she swims through it. She doesn't bother using the breathing charms. She's perfectly capable of swimming the lakes (or maybe these are lagoons. What's the difference between lakes and lagoons anyway?) Moon supposes it doesn't matter now. 

The selkie becomes more animated as they continue. She tugs on Gladion's hand, telling him about how she knows this place and how she used to come here with her siblings to play and points out all her favorite hiding places. Gladion listens with a patient sort of sweetness that surprises Moon. He's good with kids, she thinks. I never would have thought. 

They pass by numerous waterfalls. Moon can't hear anything over the thundering of them. She tilts her head up. She counts at least four waterfalls right on top of each other. A ring of rock fences in the lagoon or lake. Waves crash against the rock. The selkie clambers onto the rocks and prepares to dive into the water. Gladion grabs her. “The spell says we need to go this way,” she protests. “And I'm a good swimmer.” 

“We aren't as good as you,” Gladion tells her. Moon takes the opportunity to take a sip of water. She curls up on the rocks, not caring that she's being soaked. If she wasn't tired, she would be kicking herself. Why didn't it occur to her that selkies might live underwater? Wait, did they? She looks at the sea. It stretches out for miles and miles. “Do you think they found an island?” Gladion asks. 

“Maybe,” Moon says. She remembers something she read when she was trying to figure out whether or not it was okay for the selkie to be out of the water while she was in seal form. “If we assume the selkie has same limitations as normal seal while in seal form, they don't actually live underwater.” 

“So there's presumably land somewhere. But we shouldn't count on it.” Gladion glances at Moon. “How long do these breathing charms last?”

“A few hours,” she replies. Gladion doesn't say anything, but she senses what he's thinking. It's too much of a risk for her to go with them. The selkie will be fine and Gladion knows magic and can do spells to help him breathe, but Moon is reliant on a breathing charm. She doesn't know how long the journey will last and they can't risk the charms running out while they're in the middle of the ocean. 

“You'll have to stay here,” Gladion tells Moon. There's no anger in his voice, just a calm statement of fact. Moon feels compelled to apologize. Gladion is shouldering the brunt of the investigation himself. He's the one who has been out exploring. What has Moon done besides do a little research? 

“I'm sure you're doing this just to inconvenience me,” Gladion says. Moon is about to apologize again when Gladion continues, “I'm sure you decided to be a human without the ability to breathe underwater just to get out of a situation like this.” Moon smiles, relief washing through her at Gladion's sarcasm and understanding. She tries to think of something witty to say, but comes up blank. “Can we go now?” the selkie whines.

“Just a moment,” Gladion calls back. He turns to Moon. “We'll find her family. Depending on the location, I can teleport you there. Or I can request that they meet us at another location.”

“Whichever works. You'd better go.” Before Gladion turns to go, Moon grabs his arm. He yanks his arm out of her grasp. “Sorry,” Moon says. “I wanted to apologize again. I know you're the one basically doing all the work here. You're the one trying to track down the creature, and all I've done is research and we haven't even investigated any leads and now you and the selkie have to leave me behind because I can't breathe underwater or swim for that long without a rest and I guess we could build a raft because I some trees but even with magic that would probably take too long and-

“How do people get you to shut up when you ramble like this?” Gladion asks. 

“They interrupt me like you do or wait for me to take a breath,” Moon replies.

“Look, you'll get your chance to pull your weight,” Gladion says. “For right now, you aren't helping anything by focusing on what you can't do.” Again, it's not the best pep talk she's heard, but it calms Moon down. “Good luck,” she says. At Gladion's nod, the selkie stands up. She transforms back into a seal and dives into the water. A few moments later, Gladion follows her.

*  
Moon tries to heed Gladion's advice. Focusing on her shortcomings isn't helping anything. She stares at the ocean for a long time, willing Gladion and the selkie to come back soon. Suppose they're attacked? Then it occurs to Moon that she could be attacked. Frantically she reaches for her glasses and puts them on, but there aren't any monsters leaping towards her. Moon takes the opportunity to look around and see if there are traces of magic, but she can't sense any. She relaxes a bit. Then she remembers that supernatural creatures are capable of hiding themselves and she draw her dagger.

Moon explores the water and the shore. She isn't sure what she's looking for. She'd optimistically thought she'd know it when she saw it. She isn't lucky enough to find entrails or an item of a drowned person or anything that would obviously point to a supernatural creature drowning people. I should have brought my books to do more research, Moon thinks. She hopes that the selkie's words about monsters will turn out to be a lead or that her relatives will know something. Or maybe the monster isn't the same one that's been drowning people and they have nothing to do with each other. Maybe Moon was just so relieved to have indirect confirmation of a supernatural creature at Brooklet Hill that she automatically assumed it was a lead. You can't jump to false conclusions like that, Moon scolds herself. 

Still, even if this pans out to nothing, Moon isn't going to regret helping an injured child. She decides to be optimistic about the results. Just because the selkie didn't know about any drownings doesn't mean her relatives won't. 

*  
Moon tries to keep herself busy by examining the plants on shore. She keeps glancing back towards the sea, hoping to see Gladion and the selkie, but no luck. She wishes she could be out there with them, but Gladion is right. She would be a liability. She can swim, but not well enough to swim across who knew what kind of distance in the ocean with no land in sight. She tries to think of something to do. She should be out there with Gladion and the selkie. Did she give up too easily? Maybe she should have gone with them. She's done more reckless things in the name of science, like ingest poisons. Was she just latching onto an excuse when she agreed with Gladion that it was too dangerous for her to go with them? What if she did go with them? Moon imagines swimming with them and being able to keep pace. Then she imagines herself getting tired and Gladion having to tow her along. Gladion is right, Moon thinks to herself. Focusing on my shortcomings like this isn't helping.

Moon goes back to examining the plants. She'll have to come back here when this drowning business is taken care of. There's so much to explore. Thinking about her plans for after the mission is completed calms her. It reminds her that there's a world outside of faerie queens and faerie missions and that she's a part of it. Maybe Mallow and I could come here for a hike or a paddle, Moon thinks. But we still have to do that girl's day.

There's a flash in Moon's peripheral vision and she reacts without thinking. She grabs her weapon and lunges. Her wrist is grabbed and Gladion arches an eyebrow. “You need to pay better attention to your surroundings,” he scolds her. “Still, I admire your initiative.” 

Moon claps a hand to her mouth. “I''m so sorry!” she exclaims.

“Why? You didn't hit me.” After a moment Gladion adds, “You wouldn't have been able too.”

Moon looks around and sees the selkie isn't with him. “Did you guys find her family?” she asks. 

Gladion nods, then looks seriously at Moon. “And a good bit of them are injured. Come on, Moon. It's time to start pulling your weight.”


End file.
